


Means to an End

by Chika_Lohaine



Series: What We Do For Family [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Assistant Alec, BAMF Liam Dunbar, Canonical Character Death, Captain Stiles Stilinski, Case Fic, Child Death, Childhood Trauma, Cults, Detective Mason Hewitt, Doctor Theo Raeken, Dubious Morality, Established Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, F/F, Forensic Specialist Theo Raeken, Good Friend Corey Bryant, Good Friend Mason Hewitt, History Professor Liam Dunbar, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic, Liam Dunbar & Mason Hewitt Friendship, M/M, ME Assistant Nolan, Medical Examiner Theo Raeken, Minor Character Death, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Morally Ambiguous Character, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mythology References, Original Child Characters, Original Mythology, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Corey Bryant, Protective Liam Dunbar, Protective Theo Raeken, Scott is a Good Friend, Slow Burn, Sort of..., Undercover Agent Corey Bryant, Undercover Missions, Veterinarian Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), protective Mason Hewitt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:00:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26774035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chika_Lohaine/pseuds/Chika_Lohaine
Summary: Captain Stiles Stilinsky creates a task force to put an end to the child murder and kidnappings that have being taking place in Beacon Hills. A mixed match group of friends then fight to save the lives of the city’s children as well as those of children they know.
Relationships: Corey Bryant & Liam Dunbar, Corey Bryant & Liam Dunbar & Mason Hewitt & Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant & Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar & Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura, Mason Hewitt & Theo Raeken, Past Liam Dunbar/Original Female Characters
Series: What We Do For Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960054
Comments: 44
Kudos: 37





	1. Beacon Hills Gazette

**Author's Note:**

> And I'm back! Thought I'd work on something long and heavy since I'm doing nothing but procrastinating on school work.
> 
> This work is quite heavy, it contains child deaths and murders. There are some elements of torture, abuse and graphic child and character deaths. There will be fluff nut not at the beginning of the story. Though this is dark, there are no non-con/rape elements.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.  
> -Chika

## **Beacon Hills Gazette**

* * *

* * *

* * *

# NEW VICTIMS FOR CHILD MURDERER

 ** _[Photograph by Jason Future]_ **

Just last Sunday, the Beacon Hills police department discovered another child’s body mutilated almost beyond recognition. Two days later, the BHPD discovered two more bodies, placing the total body count at seventeen in the past two months alone.

The BHPD claims to be working their hardest to find the missing children and catch the murderer but parents are starting to fear for the offspring’s lives. It is estimated that 40 children, between the ages of 5 and 10, are currently missing and whether their disappearances are related to the case in unknown.

The BHPD Captain, Stiles Stilinsky, had the following to say: _[We] are working tirelessly to catch the killer. Our kids are in danger and what kind of people would we be if we didn’t go out of our way to stop this brutality. Please can parents follow the_

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_curfews that we have set out so that we all may work hard together to keep our families intact and our children alive._

The Captain proceeded to talk about the formation of a special task force to solve the case. The task force is believed to comprise of only the best detectives and forensic scientist that the bureau has to offer.

People of Beacon Hills are afraid and are urged to keep their children and children of their families and friends safe.

  


  
By Chika Lohaine  
  
---|---|---


	2. CHAPTER ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Child death, mention of mutilation/injury, mention of blood.
> 
> Shorter than I wanted but it got the ball rolling.

Mason Hewitt sighed as he looked down at the latest child victim. No matter how trained he was, the detective would never get used to seeing a mutilated child’s body. It was the third body he had seen ever since Captain Stiles Stilinsky had made him lead detective of the case. He didn’t understand how some one could do this to a child.

The said victim was lying on the floor of an abandoned building, completely naked. Their legs were closed, and their arms placed at their sides. The small body was covered in carvings and writings, seemingly placed at random intervals. Around the body, lay similar symbols, all making the shape of a triangle inside a circle. The entire sigil looked as if it had been written in blood and Mason had the feeling that it would have most likely been the blood of the victim.

“Sir?” An officer called Mason.

“Yes?” He answered and turned around.

“The ME is here. He’s asking if he can come in and do his job.” The officer looked nervous and Mason could understand why. Not everybody could deal with seeing a scene like the one that was in front of him.

“Doesn’t Gabe usually just walk in on his own?” Mason asked, standing up from where he was crouched.

“Gabe isn’t going to be working on this case anymore.” A newcomer said as he walked in with a metal case in his hand. He reached out his other hand to Mason. “Doctor Theo Raeken, the new ME and forensic specialist for this case.”

“Detective Mason Hewitt. Stiles asked you to join the task force?” Mason said as he shook the outstretched hand.

“Sent in from Quantico.” Theo gave Mason a small smile before he looked down at the body. “Apparently there was nobody who wanted to take on the case.”

“I can’t imagine anybody who _would_ want to.” Mason also looked at the body. “Do you want to get started?”

“Okay, I’m guessing all the necessary pictures have been taken?” Theo stepped closer to the body. He put his case down on the floor, careful to avoid the inscriptions around the body.

“Yes, had to do some of them myself.” Mason sighed. With cases this gruesome, the were quite understaffed. The few staff on the scene were either sitting in a corner trying to forget what they just saw or were outside vomiting into a nearby bush.

Theo started looking over the body. He checked the time of death and checked the state of rigor mortis in the body before turning back to Mason.

“Time of death could have been around seven hours ago, at around late morning to early noon. Looking at the wounds, some of them could have been made before death. Rigor mortis is in the moderate stage.” Theo took out a plastic tube that had a cotton swab attached to the lid. He swiped up some of the red liquid around the body, added a drop of chemical solution to the container and shook it. “Blood. If it’s the victim’s blood, then it means that it was drained before they died.”

“Estimated cause of death?” Mason asked, a grimace on his face.

“Could be many things, especially for a child this small.” Theo shrugged. “Let’s get the body back to the lab, then I can give you an accurate answer.”

***

“Your death must have been painful.” Theo said as he washed the child’s body. There was so much blood running off that the water was continuously stained red. Once the body was washed, Theo started documenting the wounds that were now more visible. He pulled out a camera and started taking the necessary pictures. An hour into the process, Theo heard a door open behind him.

“How’s everything going?” Mason’s voice asked him. When Mason entered his field of vision, Theo could see that he was dressed in the appropriate scrubs over his suit.

“What’s the correct answer when one is looking at a body of a child?” Theo asked, no hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“You found something?” Mason suggested, also at a loss for a proper answer.

“Nothing that you don’t already know from the previous cases.” Theo shrugged, putting the camera back down.

“I wish. Each death and case were different. From the location of the carvings to the cause of death.” Mason sighed and placed a folder at the edge of the table. “Not even the sigils underneath the bodies were similar.”

“If that’s the case then I might need to take a look at the bodies and the previous ME reports.” Theo said. “The cause of death in this case is blood loss. Most likely because they used the child’s blood to draw the sigil and draw on the body.”

“Draw on the body?” Mason asked, confusion clear in his tone.

“You see these two marks on the child’s neck? They were obscured by the blood used to make the symbols. The wounds were all cleaned _then_ the body was drawn on. What you are seeing here is completely different from what you would see if you were to look at the pictures from the crime scene. It’s as if it’s a whole new picture all together.” Theo explained. He had also been shocked by what he had discovered when he first started washing the body. He wondered what the purpose of having multiple layers of carvings was.

“Great, just great.” Mason muttered as he looked at the body. With a gloved hand, he stroked the child’s head. “What did you do to deserve such a death?”

“We won’t know until we find out who’s doing this in the first place.” Theo sighed. “I’ll need the previous case files so that I can compile a list of comparisons for you. And maybe help you solve this case.”

“I’ll go and get them. Right now, this is the report file for the previous body.” Mason said as he tapped the folder that he had placed on the table earlier. “The body is still here, and Gabe filled it in before he left. Do you know why he left?”

“I heard that he didn’t feel comfortable handling such young children’s deaths. Can’t really blame him though.” Theo said as he took off his gloves and picked up the folder.

“Can’t really blame him either. But why are _you_ here? I’m pretty sure that Quantico didn’t send you here just because you were the best or something. You could have still refused if you didn’t want.” Mason leaned on the table and looked at his new teammate. “So why did you _want_ to come here?”

“Maybe for the fame when we catch the bastard?” Theo smirked, then looked down at the child. His smirk was replaced by a sad smile. “Or maybe because no child deserves to get treated like this.”

Mason looked at Theo before he pushed himself upright. “I’ll let you get back to work. I’ve got my own things to do.”

“Don’t forget the files.” Theo said as Mason started to walk away.

“You’ll get them at our group meeting in an hour or so. I think we are still waiting for one or two more people to arrive.” Mason shouted back with an accompanying wave. Theo shook his head and turned back to the file in his hands. He put it back down, pulled out a new pair of gloves and got back to examining he body.

Reading could wait, he had a patient to deal with.


	3. CHAPTER TWO

Mason sighed as he carried the box of files to the conference room. Stiles had told him that he would be meeting the other two people that would be join their little task force. He wondered who the captain had deemed was good enough to solve such a big and sensitive case. Stiles had a habit of looking for only the best of the best when it came to big cases, sometimes even stepping in himself.

Mason placed the box on to the table and took a seat. He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, taking the few minutes before the meeting to breathe. Mason had been part of enough cases to know that crime didn’t sleep meaning that he wouldn’t get a chance to sleep. He wondered how long it would take to solve the case. If it would take them a few months or if they would just hit a brick wall while the criminal(s) simply walked off scot-free. It wouldn’t be the first time that the police failed on a big case, but Mason hoped that it wouldn’t be the current case. Not when so many children where still waiting to be saved.

“Aren’t you an early bird?” A voice said from the door at the back of the room. Mason knew who it was before he turned around. It would have been awkward had he not recognized his boyfriend’s voice.

“What are you doing back?” Mason turned in his chair and faced Corey Bryant, an undercover agent. Corey was supposed to be in New Mexico, working on a case for the FBI. Mason hadn’t gotten the details but figured that it had to do with a drug cartel – most of Corey’s cases had to do with the cartels.

“Stiles had me reassigned. Apparently, you need the best of the best on this case.” Corey entered the room and closed the door behind him. He crossed the room in a few steps and Mason met him halfway. The two of them shared a passionate kiss before pulling apart and laughing.

“I missed you.” Mason said as he took his seat again. Corey sat down on the seat next to him and took Mason’s hand in his own.

“I missed you too. Though I wish we saw each other during different circumstances.” Corey sighed. His work as an undercover agent always kept him busy, and most of the time, it was in other countries. He never liked working with Mason when it was on a case, not even f they got to work together. Them working together meant that there was enough chaos for them both to be needed.

“Same. I’m torn between this wishing this case took long and wishing we could solve it as fast as possible.” Mason sighed. The door opened again and Stiles, Theo and another person Mason had never met before, walked in. They took their seats opposite Corey and Mason with Stiles at the head of the table.

“Glad to see everybody is here.” The police captain said, clasping his hands in front of him. “Let me introduce you to each other. Dr Theo Raeken, our ME and forensic specialist. Detective Mason Hewitt, who will be leader of the case. Corey Bryant, FBI liaison and undercover agent, and Nolan Holloway our assistant forensic specialist.”

“Aren’t we supposed to get a linguist or at least someone who could interpret the symbols that we keep seeing?” Mason asked. He had expected Nolan to be the hieroglyphologist or something along those lines.

“Well, we don’t have anybody who specializes in symbols and the works here at the precinct and Quantico says that their people are busy with other cases. I put in word for an expert or at least someone who knows _something_ and I’m still waiting for a response.” Stiles sighed and shrugged. They could all see how tired their captain was. It wasn’t an easy position to hold when you were dealing with a serial child murderer.

“You’d think that they’d want us to solve the case as quickly as possible.” Corey commented. The other members nodded their heads.

“Well we can’t do anything about that right now. I’ll get you someone as soon as I find them, it’s not like I can put an ad in the paper.” Stiles pointed out. “Back to what we know. What _do_ we know?”

“Each victim was killed in a unique way, the only overlapping points would be a few symbols, what the sigils where written with and the CODs.” Mason summarized. “Some sigils were done with paint; others were done in animal blood and most recently the blood of the victim.”

“Theo?” Stiles turned to the forensic specialist.

“I don’t really have much, since I only start working on the case a few hours ago. What I do have on the current victim and the one before, is that the victims were cut, cleaned then had symbols written or painted on top of the injured skin.” Theo placed the two medical reports on to the table. “The carvings were all in various stages of healing, while some were made post death.”

“This case just keeps getting more gruesome by the minute.” Stiles muttered as he ran his hands through his already messy short hair. “Anyway, level six room seven is yours to work in. I have another meeting with the press.”

The captain walked out and left the group in a contemplative silence. The group had been formed and that seemed to cement their place in the solving of the case. It was them against whoever was committing the murders. They were the protective barrier for potential victims. Everyone of them felt the weight that was resting on their shoulders.

“Should we move to our assigned room now?” Theo asked, breaking the silence.

“Might as well.” Mason shrugged. He pushed the case box towards Theo. “Everything you asked for. ME reports including tox reports, evidence reports and pictures from the crime scene.”

“Thank you.” Theo opened he box and added his two files to what was already inside. He pushed the box to Nolan to carry.

“I didn’t know you had an assistant.”

“Neither did I, until I bumped into the good Captain on my way to the meeting.” Theo said, mild annoyance clear in his tone. “But with a case this big, I can understand why I might need one. I am supposed to do all the testing myself.”

“Nice to meet you, Nolan.” Corey said.

“It’s nice to meet to you too.” Nolan answered clearly feeling a little awkward. Corey nodded before turning to Theo. He held out his hand and Theo shook it, albeit a little awkwardly due to the fact that they were walking.

The group rode the elevator from the fourth floor to the sixth floor in silence. When they reached their designated room, they found the door locked with a four-digit keycode.

“Is he playing with us?” Theo muttered, clearly not impressed.

“Mase, do you know the code?” Corey asked.

“Knowing Stiles, its probably 0607 or something like that.” Mason shrugged. Corey punched the code in and was surprised when the door opened.

“How did you know?” Nolan asked.

“It’s the floor number and the door number. I’ve worked with Stiles long enough to know that he sets the initial codes to something he can remember easily.” Mason shrugged as they all entered the room. It was dusty to say the least and was quite stuffy. The group could make out the rooms two long metal desks – one folded and the other open – and three metal chairs that leaned in a corner, even without the light. The blinds were open, letting in the moonlight. Corey flipped on the light switch and one of the lightbulbs burst, send some glass shards to the floor.

“I thought he had great memory?” Theo asked, taking a look around their new home.

“It’s the trivial things that he keeps forgetting.” Corey answered instead. “Let’s get cleaning.”

Theo pulled a face but took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. He briefly regretted wearing a white shirt. Nolan placed the box in a corner and placed Theo’s jacket over it, along with his own sweater. Corey and Mason added their coats to the pile and looked around the room, trying to figure out where to start.

“We need cleaning supplies.” Theo said as he tried opening the windows and found dust on his hands.

“I’ll go and get them.” Mason said before leaving. Corey and Nolan folded the table and placed it outside, while Theo gathered the metal chairs and also took them out. When Mason returned with the mops and buckets he could carry, the group got to cleaning while Mason went back for the other things with Nolan.

It took them two to three hours get everything clean and by then it was already nearing midnight.

“My back hurts.” Mason complained as he stretched his arms above his head.

“At least we are almost finish. We just need more chairs and another desk.” Corey said.

“And another light fixture.” Theo added as they watched the remaining light fixture flicker.

“I’ll talk to maintenance.” Mason grimaced.

“Let’s head home then.” Theo handed everybody their jackets back and picked up the box. Nolan went to take it, but the ME simply shook his head. “I want to read over this at home.”

“So, you are one of those people who take work home with them?” Mason joked as they left the room.

“Well it’s not like I’m in a relationship with anyone. There’s nobody at home to complain about my dates with my work.” Theo rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t that lonely?” Corey closed the door behind them and turned to Theo.

“I worked at Quantico. I’m normally too busy to be lonely.” Theo shrugged. They all headed to the parking lot, keeping the conversation light. Mason and Corey offered to drop Nolan off since his house was on their way and the group parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Liam in the next chap! How do you guys like FBI agent Corey and Police Captain Stiles?


	4. CHAPTER THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me busy writing more chapters as if I don't have school work due. Anyway, hope you enjoy. There are no warnings for this chapter! (Which is actually a good thing.)  
> -Chika

Liam rolled over and checked the time on his clock, wondering why it hadn’t gone off yet. He had to look at the clock twice before he confirmed that he was going to be late for work. He flew out of bed and into the bathroom. Liam grabbed his toothbrush, splashed some toothpaste on it before rushing back to his room to pull out a black long-sleeved shirt, some black jeans, and a black coat. He had never been so glad that he showered before heading to bed. It meant that the chance of him smelling strongly of sweat was low.

Liam had started showering at night after he kept waking up late. He was a great professor but keeping his life in check was not his greatest skill. Scott often joked about him being born late as a reason to his constant tardiness. Liam simply blamed it on not finding the right alarm clock. He ignored the fact that it was late morning and he had no proper excuse for oversleeping.

He managed to finish brushing his teeth and using the bathroom before turning to getting dressed while packing his briefcase. When he was done, he grabbed some fruit from the fruit bowl and his keys and phone from the countertop before running out of the apartment.

“Late again, Liam?” Liam’s nice neighbor, Mrs. Dabney asked. She was out for her late morning walk with her dog, a Shih Tzu name Chip.

“Yes. It seems that I went to sleep a little late.” Liam said as he waved. He was glad that he remembered to get his car fixed as he climbed in and started the ignition. He was only five minutes late for class when he bumped into Scott.

“Late again Liam.” Scott laughed, most likely on his way to his office. Scott was the Dean of the Veterinary Sciences and had worked very hard to get the position. He was well known across most of the campus for not only being handsome but for also helping any hurt animals.

“Yes, now I have to get to class.” Liam said as he started to run down the corridor.

“Let’s get brunch at our usual café. At twelve thirty if you don’t have any classes!” Scott shouted after him.

“Okay, I’ll text you on when I’m free.” Liam shouted back without turning around. He slowed down as he approached his class and walked in, a little out of breath. His class was already seated and waiting for him. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Professor Dunbar.” They greeted him back. Liam could see the smirks on some of their faces.

“We should make a bet that if you are late tomorrow then class is canceled.” One of his students shouted as Liam set up the projector.

“Or we get ten percent free on our next assignment.” Another student suggested and a few agreed. Liam rolled his eyes, knowing that they were trying to get more marks on the assignment that was due later that week.

“Not a chance, we’d end up never having class.” Liam told them. They laughed and Liam started up his PowerPoint.

“Today, we will be continuing with Ancient Greece’s documentation of their Mythos and Mythology. Who can remember what we talked about during our last class?” Liam asked as he took off his coat. It was early autumn, but the weather was already quite chilly. A few students wolf whistled, and Liam simply ignored them. They had gotten used to teasing their teacher and he would tease them back. Liam was quite an easy-going teacher and got along with quite a few students in and around the history department of the university.

Liam pointed to one of his students that had raised their hand.

“We were looking at how the Ancient Greeks communicated with one another, whether it was written form, long distance or face to face.” The student, a girl by the name of Lori, answered.

“Thank you, Lori.” Liam said before he moved to the next slide. “We looked at their language advancements and how they got to where they got to, but now let us look at their writing. This also plays a roll in language as long-distance communication relied heavily on this.”

*

“Mason, Stilinsky is looking for you.” Brett shouted before he disappeared again. Mason sighed and rolled his eyes. Brett was the worst messenger to have ever existed. He barely got the message across before he disappeared, most probably back to wherever he had come from. The only things that Mason liked about him was his loyalty, dedication and consistency.

Mason stood up from his desk where he had been looking at the case from the beginning and headed to Stiles’ office. He knocked once on the door before sticking his head through.

“You called?”

“I know that this is a little unconventional, but a friend of mine recommended an Ancient history professor that might have some knowledge on the symbols and sigils that we’ve been seeing on the victims.” Stiles cut to the chase, clearly still tired from his arguments with the press the night before and again that morning. “He works at the university. I was sent his schedule and information, and already forwarded it to you. Talk to him and get him to come down to the precinct so he can help you guys.”

“Yes, sir.” Mason mock saluted and left the room. He was glad that they might have a break in the case, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. With a case that big and sensitive Mason needed to be realistic and work around everything slowly and with care. Mason opened his emails from his phone and looked at what Stiles had sent him.

“Going somewhere?” Theo said as Mason walked past the break that the former was exiting.

“Might have found someone who can translate our symbols.” Mason answered as Theo fell into stepped beside him. “Want to come?”

“Fresh air might help.” Theo shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. He pulled a face at its staleness despite just being made. “Where are we going?”

“To the nearby university. We are looking for a Professor Liam Dunbar. He teaches ancient history.” Mason rattled off the information that he had just read from the email.

“And Captain Stiles thinks that he might be able to help us?” Theo threw his cup into the trash as they stepped out of the elevator and into the parking lot. He had the fleeting thought of asking Mason to stop by a coffee shop just to get him a new cup.

“He said he got the name from a friend. Apparently, he trusts this friend enough to send me out to meet this Liam.” Mason shrugged, unlocking his car so that they could climb in.

“Then I hope that he can help us.” Theo sighed.

“Me too.”

*

“And that is the end of today lesson. Your assignment is due in two days, that means Thursday during class, and I don’t want to hear any excuses.” Liam said as he ended his presentation.

“Sir, does it really have to be seven to ten pages?” A student shouted.

“Okay, I never said that it needs to be seven to ten pages. What I had said is that you needed to have a maximum of 5000 words.” Liam paused what he was doing and looked at them with a sigh. “I don’t want to read long assignments that go in circles about nothing. I still have your essays to focus on.”

“So, we can make it like two pages or something?” Another voice piped up.

“If two pages is going to get you seventy marks then go for it, but I don’t want to hear anybody complaining when I give them the marks that two pages deserves.” Liam shrugged in a way that told the class that the answer was no. “Any other questions about the assignment or this lesson?”

“Can you read the symbols from the serial murder case?” Another student asked. The atmosphere in the class turned cold.

“That is a question that we will not discuss in class.” Liam said to the girl. She had a tendency of asking questions that unsettled a lot of people. Liam thought that while that was a good trait to have – especially if one was going into politics or journalism – a person needed to know when to ask those questions. “I asked for question that had to deal with the assignment or the class.”

“But don’t you want to know why someone would kill those kids or what message they are trying to get across with the symbols? You always talk about someone’s reasoning and how cultures and beliefs where translated through their writing.”

“Have you ever seen a dead body before?” Liam asked her.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Would you look at a dead body just to sate your curiosity?” Liam slowly walked towards to where she was sitting in the front row. He placed his hands on the desk in front of her. “For research purposes, would you go to the crime scene just so you could get a glimpse of human brutality, just because you want to know what is being written on the victims? Would you sacrifice your loved one just so you can get more information on the case, straight from an inside source? Just so you can see what is done to those poor kids who had the misfortune of being chosen? All because you are _‘curious’_.”

“I –” The girl looked slightly flustered as Liam loomed over her.

“Then stop asking if _I_ would.” Liam straightened up and turned to the rest of the class. “I’ll see you on Thursday, don’t forget your assignments. If you have anything to ask me _related_ to the assignment, then you may email me. I will answer any questions up until two hours before the class.”

Liam dismissed them with a wave of his hand and went back to packing up his things.

“Professor Dunbar.” A voice called from behind him. Liam turned around and came face to face with two good looking men. One was tall with a light nine o’clock shadow on his face and bright blueish-grey eyes. His companion, who was the one that has called Liam, what shorter, had darkish skin and had a friendly air about him. Liam had seen them sitting at the back of his class and knew that they were not students. Not only had he never seen them before, they had this air about them that told Liam that they were far from being students. They looked like men who had been on the receiving end of the bad things that life had to offer.

“Yes?”

“Detective Mason Hewitt and Dr Theo Raeken.” The shorter man showed Liam his badge and pointed to his companion as he mentioned their names. That got Liam’s – and by extension, his students - attention. “We were wondering if we could talk.”

“About…” Liam asked as he watched his curious students walk out while watching them.

“It’s better if we talked about this in private.” Mason offered him a small smile while Theo glared at a student who had come to close to him. Their handsomeness was quite flustering to everyone else in the class and Theo’s glare made it worse. He looked like an angry male god. The student quickly left the class, pulling their friend with them.

“As much as I would like to talk to you, I am actually late for a meeting with the dean.” Liam said as he looked at his watch. “Then gentlemen, if you would excuse me, please come again later.”

Liam left the classroom before they could say anything more. They probably wanted to talk about something important, but they had the rest of the day to find him. Liam breathed out a deep sigh as he rushed to him and Scott’s meeting place. He had to admit that the gaze from the man with blue-gray eyes had threw him of kilter. They had felt as if they were pulling apart his very existence in order to find out what was hidden underneath.

“Liam!” Scott lifted a hand as Liam walked into the café. Liam saw that he was with another male. Upon closer inspection, Liam realized that the male looked to be a student.

“Scott, sorry I’m late, got held up by people.” Liam said as he sat down.

“It’s okay.” Scott waved off his excuse with a knowing smirk. “Liam this is Alec, your teaching assistant.”


	5. CHAPTER FOUR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter because I was in the mood to write and edit. I never knew editing was so hard... (-_-#)

“Why do I have a teaching assistant?” Liam asked as a waiter brought him lunch. Scott had ordered his favorite club sandwich and soda combo that he always got whenever they went to that café.

“Alec is only there so that you aren’t late for classes or meetings and so that your life, at least your school life, is in order. You need some help Liam.” Scott held up a hand before Liam could protest. “I know that you aren’t falling apart or anything like that but just let Alec help you. It would give you more time to focus on other things.”

“Other things like what?” Liam asked, daring Scott to mention his love life. He wasn’t interested in seeing anyone for a long time. His ex-girlfriend had made sure that he wasn’t ready for relationships or anything that relationships might represent. Thanks to her Liam had managed to develop commitment issues. Some jealous part of Liam was glad that she had also found it hard to have a relationship after Liam, it wasn’t fair that only he suffered.

“Like your family.” Scott said gently. Liam had to admit that more time to himself, because there was somebody helping him out, was quite appealing. He kind of wanted a chance to kick back and relax once in a while, surrounded by people who loved him and who he loved back

“Fine since you seem to think that I need the help.” Liam sighed. He picked up his sandwich as Scott smiled and turned to Alec.

“Professor Dunbar will show you to his office. There is already a desk in there for you, though it might need a little cleaning up. Anything else that you need to do outside what we already discussed will be told to you by Liam.” Scott said. His tone and chosen words alerted Liam to the fact that the older man didn’t have food in front of him and was already prepared to leave.

“I thought we were having lunch?” Liam asked as he just managed to swallow the mouthful of bread that was in his mouth. He had been looking forward to lunch with Scott. It was one of the few times where he could just be himself and not worry about what he was going to teach for his next class or what assignments he had yet to mark and give back to his students.

“I have another meeting. I just wanted to introduce Alec to you before I left.” Scott said sheepishly, knowing how much Liam liked their brunch meets.

“You owe me a lunch then.” Liam said knowing that Scott took his job and volunteering job – and anything related – quite seriously.

“Even after I paid for this one?” Scott smiled good naturedly.

“Yep, especially because you paid and left.” Liam smiled back.

“We’ll take a raincheck then. Whenever you are free.” Scott waved as he left the two new acquaintances at the table.

“So, what do you study?” Liam asked Alec. He knew that ignoring the boy or treating him badly was not only unprofessional, it was also just plain rude. Alec had most likely been roped into the entire thing by Scott so it wouldn’t be fair for Liam to be mean to him.

“I major in anthropology.” Alec answered, taking a cautious sip of his drink. Liam noted that he was mildly uncomfortable and attributed it to the fact that he had first rejected Alec as his teaching assistant.

“But you have studied Ancient History?”

“Yes, last year when you had taken leave for the semester.” Alec explained. Liam nodded and took another bite of his food. He held back a moan at how good the sandwich was.

“When you are finished with your food, I’ll show you around the office then.” Liam said, giving Alec a semi awkward pat on the shoulder.

*

The office was a mess to say the least. Alec couldn’t even tell which desk was Liam’s and which desk was his. Scott had told him that Liam had generally always been on top of things when it came to all aspects of his life but an incident a few years ago had thrown the man of balance and he had never been the same since.

“Okay that desk by the left wall is yours.” Liam said as he filtered through a stack of papers on his desk. “I have a class right now, so you can make yourself at home.”

“Okay.” Alec placed his bag on the floor and got to sorting out the papers that were on the desk that was supposed to be his. Liam grabbed what he needed and rushed back out the door.

Alec sighed as he got to work. Scott was right in saying that Liam needed help. The office looked like a workaholic lived in it. The new teaching assistant started moving things around, hoping that by the time the school day ended, the office would look at least _somewhat_ presentable. Deep down he felt that that was wishful thinking.

Alec noticed that the office only looked messy but was in fact still pack in an orderly fashion. Liam had placed students’ assignments according to years and had further separated the assignments according to what group they were in and what the assignment was. All Alec had to do was place the neat stacks into the correct cubbyholes or cabinet drawers.

He wrote down where he had placed each pile so that it would be easier for Liam to find them if Alec wasn’t there. Just as Alec was moving on to sorting out Liam’s desk, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” The TA shouted, putting down the few things that he was holding. The department secretary was standing by the door with two men behind.

“Professor Liam gone to class?” She asked, taking a look around the room. She was clearly impressed with how clean it was looking, compared to how everyone was used to seeing it. Alec felt a little pride at the old woman’s expression.

“Yes, but I could leave him a notice that someone came by to see him.” Alec said as he looked at the men.

“I’ll let them make an appointment then.” She smiled and left, trusting him to handle everything accordingly. Alec reached for his diary and a pen. In it was a copy of Liam’s timetable that he had gotten from Scott.

“Do you have a specific time that you want to meet him?” Alec asked them.

“It would be better if he came to see us himself. I’m Detective Mason Hewitt and this is Doctor Theo Raeken, by the way.”

“Alec, Professor Dunbar’s teaching assistant.” Alec shook the hand that was held out to him. Dr Raeken preferred to look around the office, apparently not interested in their conversation.

“Nice to meet you. It wouldn’t be a problem if you told Professor Dunbar to come and see us that the BHPD precinct, would it? It’s rather urgent.”

“I can tell him that you came. Whether he comes would be if he wants to or not.” Alec shrugged apologetically.

“That’s perfect then. Thank you for your time then, Alec.” Dt Hewitt shook his hand and turned to leave.

“Give this to him.” Dr Raeken said holding out an envelope to Alec. “Tell him it’s confidential.”

“I will…” Alec said awkwardly as he took the envelope from the man. The two of them left and Alec finally had the guts to breathe. Being in the presences of a police officer had never been so intimidating. Alec felt that they were friendly enough, but with the recent cases having a police officer – let alone a detective – was quite scary. Alec looked at the envelope in his hand and sighed.

As tempted as he was to look at the contents, he was _not_ ready to be fired – or traumatized – when he had just received the job. Alec placed the envelope into his notebook and placed the book on his desk. He had the rest of the room to clean up. Cracking his fingers, Alec got back to tackling the ancient history office that was now his home.


	6. CHAPTER FIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Contains **brief** (like two words worth) mention of rape and suicide (past case)
> 
> My day isn't going to way I want so I'm sad. So here's a chapter for you. I wasn't even planning on writing this chapter, but here it is anyway. Hope you enjoy.  
> -Chika

When Nolan Holloway had been offered a job, straight out of his third year as a forensic science assistant – he had gotten fired for his superior’s stupidity – he was shocked to say the least. The Beacon Hills Police Department was known for their amazing track record in solving the most complex and gruesome cases. Getting a job right after he had been fired was a dream come true, especially with the pay that he was going to be getting.

What he didn’t expect was to immediately be put on the most gruesome case that he had ever heard of. Serial child murders weren’t something that Nolan what to get in to, but he was kind of happy to be given the opportunity to make a difference.

“Redo these tests and write a report comparing the results. Use the methods that I detailed here.” Nolan’s new boss said as he dropped a stack of folders and a slip of paper on to Nolan’s desk. The younger boy was a little startled as he looked up at the doctor. Nolan didn’t know that the man was back from what ever trip he had taken with Dt Mason.

“Do I have a specific time frame to complete it?” Nolan asked as he flipped through the topmost file on the stack.

“Just a quick as you can. I’m waiting for another report before we can do other tests.” Dr Raeken told him as he walked out the door. Nolan grabbed his lab coat and the files, intending to go to the labs that were put aside for the case. Captain Stilinsky had gone to quite the extent to make sure that they had all the equipment that they would ever need.

Nolan didn’t mind working for the BHPD and for Theo. He thought about how different it was compared to where he had come from. For one thing, Theo was never drunk half the time (or at all), yes Theo wasn’t as nice as he could have been, but he was fair in a sense. He never treated Nolan like a slave, more like a junior. Nolan didn’t really have the time to enjoy the job. He was after all trying to solve such a gruesome case. Despite the circumstances, Nolan _actually_ enjoyed coming to work.

Nolan put the files down on a desk in the lab and got to work. He picked up the first file and looked at what he had to be testing for, also looking at the note that Theo had written for him. Nolan absentmindedly noted how neat Theo’s handwriting looked as he went to fetch the needed chemicals. Theo had given him basic instructions on what he had to do, already expecting him to know what he was meant to do.

He was grateful that Theo trusted him enough to know what he was supposed to do and to do it well all on his own. His previous workplace had treated him as if he were an intern. This had annoyed Nolan to no end as he had more than enough experience to serve as an assistant and to do tests on his own. BHPD had given the freedom he needed to prove himself.

Some where at the back of Nolan’s mind, he figured that here, he had nothing to prove. They had expectations and expected him to reach them. There was nothing else to his employment. It secretly made Nolan proud. He happily hummed to himself as he did as Theo had asked.

*

“Where’s your assistant?” Mason asked as he walked into the morgue where Theo was looking at a few of the latest victims. It had been three to four days since they had received the last body and the group was feeling nervous. Nobody knew when the next child was going to turn up of go missing.

“Nolan? He’s in the lab.” Theo answered without looking up. Mason stopped next to him and looked at what Theo was doing. When he couldn’t figure it out, he asked the doctor. “I don’t know for sure yet, but don’t think that the same person made these carvings.”

“Why would you say that?” Mason asked, looking between the two bodies in front of them.

“Look at these two carvings. They are the same kind but they look different. These cuts are shallow, while these are deep.” Theo said as he pointed to the markings he was talking about.

“Couldn’t that mean that the person’s feelings had changed?” Mason argued. “Normally, shallow cuts mean that they are hesitant to hurt the victim and deeper cuts means that they are more practiced.”

“That what I thought too, but this body,” Theo pointed to the victim with shallower cuts, “was killed _after_ this victim. The direction of the cuts also say that one person was left-handed while the other was right-handed. What are the chances that they would expose that they are ambidextrous? Why would they even change the hand that they are writing with? And a person who learns to write with a different hand would still start their letters the same way they would on their dominant hand.”

“So, we could be dealing with many people.” Mason said softly. “I’m not sure if that’s worse or better.”

“Better guess.” Theo shrugged. “It means that once we catch them, we get back forty children. One person is not capable of kidnapping and holding hostage that many kids.”

“Ever the optimist?” Mason laughed a little, but it sounded hollow even to his own ears.

“I’m a realist.” Theo smirked. “I had my suspicions, so I went to prove them. And prove them I did.”

“Why didn’t you have Nolan help you?” Mason asked, remembering the question that was stuck in his mind when he first walked in.

“Nolan is a forensic scientist not a medical examiner.” Theo said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I have him working on something else I’m trying to prove. So he’s most probably in the labs, where he is more trained to work.”

“Don’t go and solve this case on your own.” Mason nudged Theo with his shoulder.

“I’ll let you catch the bad guys.” Theo winked back.

“Let me head out. Corey said he wanted to talk to me about some ideas that he could try in order to help.”

“Doesn’t he know how to do his job?” Theo asked, another knowing smirk on his face. Mason suspected that Theo knew about them – though it wasn’t as if they were hiding their relationship.

“As the lead detective, I need to agree on the things my teammates do.” Mason answered, dodging the hidden accusation.

“Why? Aren’t we all old enough to know what to do and what not to do?” Theo asked. He took of his gloves and threw them in the nearest dustbin.

“It used to be like that until couple of years ago.” Mason seemed to get himself comfortable as he sat on Theo’s chair, as if the story that was coming was going to take some time. “There was this one case, an open-shut rape-murder-suicide case. Everyone was glad that it was over, it was quite a gruesome case.”

“I think I heard something about that case.” Theo said as he leaned against the examination table, crossing his arms over his chest.

“They found out later that the guy who apparently killed the girl was not even there when she had died.” Mason takes a breath. “There were three more rape-murder-suicide incidents before they caught the killer. The methods used were… sketchy and unethical at best, but they had gotten the job done. Everyone had been torn between praising him and condemning him.”

“Condemning who?” Theo asked, interest piqued.

“The police officer who worked on the case. Most of the details were brushed over, but he had… hurt many people to catch the killer.” Mason gives Theo a sad smile. “That was why we were all forced with the rule change of reporting back to your superior before you did anything, depending on the situations obviously. The rules also meant that superiors had to give their subordinates a basic run down of what they were going to do, just so that there could be that person there to stop an incident like that from happening again.”

“I understand why such rules were set in place. It’s one way to stop a cop from becoming too obsessed because of a case.” Theo said after a while. He had been busy with his own case when the rape-murder-suicide case had been taking place and hadn’t had time to follow it, so hearing about it from someone who sounded as if they were there brought a new outlook on the case.

“He was sent to an asylum after that.” Mason sighed.

“Weren’t you going to meet Corey?” Theo asked, changing the subject.

“He’s probably thinking that I forgot about him.”

“Or found someone new.” Theo winked, earning a surprised laugh from Mason.

“I’ll catch you later then. Hopefully, your tests give us more information.” Mason said as he left the morgue.

*

“I found what you were looking for.” Nolan said as he ran into the office two hours later. Theo was sitting at his desk playing around with a Rubix cube, seemingly deep in thought. He startled a bit at Nolan’s outburst.

“All of the tests are done?” Theo asked, clearly shocked. Nolan nodded his head, a little breathless from his run.

“Blood tests, tox reports, everything.” Nolan placed a folder in front of the older man. He sat nervously as he waited for Theo to finishing going through the report that he had put together.

“Call everyone together, we might have information that could give us a break in the case.” Theo told Nolan as he stood up. Nolan ran to his phone that he had – stupidly – left on his desk and sent a message to Corey and Mason. As he sent the message, he thought about how weird it was to have a group chat for the murder case. Mason responded almost immediately.

“What did they say?” Theo asked from where he was looking for something in his desk drawer. Nolan had noted how Theo rarely carried his phone with him. The device was probably in his car, sitting with a flat battery or something.

“Dt Mason said that someone named Professor Dunbar is here.” Nolan read. Theo paused before pulling out a folder and grabbing the folder that Nolan had given him.

“Let’s go then. Things are about to get interesting.” Theo said as he smiled. Nolan thought to himself that Theo smile looked quite smug, but he pushed the thought away. There was nothing that Theo had to be smug about. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might have noticed that I removed the expected chapter count. I got really frustrated with the planned story outline. I'm currently busy with heavy editing of the direction I want the story to go in so that will be down for a while until I'm sure.
> 
> I also think I will focus on posting a chapter or two every day or two (depending). So that means that this is your chapter for today. Tomorrow's chapter is already written and just needs to be edited. Until tomorrow then.  
> -Chika


	7. CHAPTER SIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a brief conversation with my underpaid and overwork temporary beta reader, I decided to put part two into a separate story. The planning happened quicker than I expected and me being me, got excited and wrote the last chapter. Even when the rest of the chapters are merely ideas...  
> Anyway, enjoy this early work. The next chapter might come out in two days because I have to focus on getting a job and finishing assignments. (*-_-)  
> -Chika

Liam was exhausted by the time he made back to his office after having three back to back classes. He had spent so much time trying to remember the difference between his first years and his second years that he almost forgot to ask them for their assignments.

His mind was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice how clean his office was until he dropped the new assignments on to his now empty desk. The new assistant was busy with his own work, seated quietly at his desk as soft music filled the room. Liam cleared his throat.

“Professor Dunbar.” Alec seemed shocked as he quickly paused his music. Alec checked the time before looking back at the teacher.

“I’m surprised you are still here.” Liam placed his bag next to his seat and sat down.

“I still have one more class after this.” Alec said as he stood up. “Two detectives came by, well one detective and one doctor. They asked if you could go and see them at the Beacon Hills precinct.”

“Did they give a time?” Liam asked, sighing. He didn’t think that they would have been that persistent.

“As soon as you could. Oh, and the doctor left this for you.” Alec ran back to his desk and pulled out a white envelope. Liam’s heart made a little leap at those words. He took the envelope and opened it. Liam let out a mildly disappointed sighed. He honestly didn’t know what he was expecting.

“Can you lock up the office. I’ll see you tomorrow for the afternoon classes only.” Liam said as he actually _looked_ at the contents. It was just a picture with the words ‘Are you interested now?’ written on the other side.

“Um… Okay, is there anything I should say to them?”

“I was called out.” Liam said as he picked up his briefcase. He grabbed the essays and rushed out the door.

The drive was short as Liam nearly sped to the precinct. All he could think of was that picture. He had a brief thought that he was in a movie and his name was Robert Langdon. Liam smiled as he pulled up outside the police department.

“How can I help you?” The police officer at the receptionist desk ask.

“I’m looking for Dt Mason Hewitt and Dr Theo Raeken. They asked me to come in.” Liam told the man. Liam was annoyed ta the man’s lack of urgency but held his tongue.

“Yes, a man named… What did you say your name was?”

“Professor Liam Dunbar.”

“Liam Dunbar.” The man repeated and Liam fought the urge to beat the man with his briefcase. “I’ll let him know then.”

“So?” Liam asked.

“Dt Hewitt will be down to talk to you in a minute. Please take a seat.” The man replied, a hint of smugness in his tone. Liam squashed down his anger and went to sit down. He was pretty sure that he could – would – lose his job if he injured an unarmed police officer.

Mason came out less than five minutes later, a smile on his face.

“Professor Dunbar, so glad you could make it.” Mason held out a hand. “What made you come so soon?”

“A message from Dr Raeken. And please call me Liam.” Liam said as he shook Mason’s hand.

“Please can I have your ID to sign you in? Harry, can we have a visitor’s badge for him?” Mason turned to the receptionist. The man nodded and got out the badge, scanning Liam’s ID before handing them to Mason. “Thank you.”

Mason handed the things to Liam and the two walked over to the elevator. Mason’s phone pinged and he typed a reply before putting his phone back into his pocket.

“Why did you guys come to me?” Liam asked as a way to get rid of the silence that hung in the elevator.

“It might be hard to believe but we didn’t have anyone else. The people that were supposed to be helping us are a little busy.” Mason said awkwardly. “I’d hate to admit it, but we don’t have anyone who’s qualified to look into this.”

“So, you chose an ancient history teacher?”

“We were recommended an ancient history _professor_.” Mason corrected, a smile on his face.

“Where are we going?”

“You actually came at the right time. Theo said that he found something that we might be interested in. So, we are headed to our briefing room to meet the rest of the team. While we wait for Corey to arrive, you can look over at some of the information that we have.” Mason led them out of the elevator and to a room with two long metal tables placed together to create one large table. There was nothing else in the room besides a few chairs and case boxes. There were also three other people in the room. “Oh Corey, you came sooner than expected.”

“Thought that I could put everything on hold if it meant learning more about this case.” One of the people that Liam had never met before said. “I’m guessing this is the professor?”

“Professor Liam Dunbar. You can just call me Liam.” Liam said as he offered his hand to Corey.

“Agent Corey Bryant. Call me Corey.” Corey shook Liam’s hand.

“You’ve already met Doctor Theo Raeken and that’s Nolan Holloway, assistant forensic scientist.” Mason indicated to the youngest male in the room. Liam shook hands with them and was shown to a seat. Mason placed a box in front of him. “Everything that you need.”

“Let me get started then.” Liam said. He took out a notepad from his bag and opened the box, pulling out the stacks of photos that were inside.

“You said you had information, Theo?” Mason turned to the doctor.

“Two of the victims are related.” Theo said.

“Really? And Gabe didn’t notice it before?”

“He wouldn’t have, the most recent case was the other sibling.” Theo shrugged. “And it’s not like they look a like or anything. I only got curious after I saw that they had similar birthmarks. Same place, same shape.”

“I don’t remember getting a report about missing siblings.” Mason said thoughtfully. “I’ll look into it again. Anything else?”

“Tox report. I had Nolan relook through everything.” Theo said as he slid a few papers towards where Mason and Corey where sitting next to each other. “The chemicals injected into their bodies were medical grade, but it was the mixture that had the effect that they wanted without them having to look for something that would get them caught or that would cost a lot of money. Like manually mixing red and blue to get purple instead of just buying purple.”

“And what was the effect that they were trying to reach?” Corey asked, flipping through the reports.

“A deep almost comatose like sleep. That way they could do whatever they wanted with out the kids waking up, screaming bloody murder, or fighting what was being done to them.” Theo explained.

“Did you find anything else on the right hand and left handedness of our killer or killers?” Mason placed the papers back on to the desk.

“Whether or not the person is ambidextrous doesn’t matter.” Liam cut in. The group turned to him.

“Why?” Corey asked.

“These were all done by different people except these two, which I’m guessing would be the siblings’ crime scenes.” Liam said as he spread out the pictures he had in his hand. Each picture was separate from the others except for the two that Liam had pointed out. “The way of drawing the symbols are different. Some start from the bottom while others start at the top. Some have their own quirks or slants while others have none of the lines actually touching. A personal touch that you would see in people’s handwriting. It bleeds through to other aspects of your life, whether you try to hide it or not.”

Liam pointed to each picture as he said what was different about them. The group was surprised as he pointed out even more differences.

“Look here.” Liam pointed to one picture. “According to the date, this case was the fourth last case and this case was the second case, but the newer case has a mistake that only a rookie could make while the older case is perfect. You can’t make a mistake like that when you already know that symbol. Especially since it’s repeated again in a few of the cases in between them.”

“So, what do you think we are dealing with?” Mason asked.

“I don’t know. There are so many symbols and sigils that don’t belong together. It’s a mishmash hodgepodge of everything and anything that has to do with ancient texts, even some modern texts are present. I can catch a glimpse of what they are trying to say but it’s going to take me a while to decipher all of it.” Liam shrugged as he flipped through the pictures. He didn’t notice the contemplative silence that the case members where stuck in, too busy trying to understand the picture that was drawn in front of him.

His interest had been piqued.


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: talks on murder and child trafficking.

It was the following morning when Liam added another picture to the already growing collage that was in front of him. Stiles, who turned out to be a friend of Scott’s, had give him a gigantic transparent white board to work on. There was so much he still didn’t understand or couldn’t piece together. It was as if he wasn’t seeing the entire picture.

He sighed and started again noting similar patterns and carvings while still keeping the images ordered according to which victim they were from. Liam wondered if there were any similarities between the victims, if that would have been the reason that they were chosen.

“Victims…” He said as he stared at the half put together board. He turned to his notes before looking back at the board. Liam smacked his forehead as he realized what was missing. “The _victims_.”

Theo and Mason hadn’t given him anything on the actual victims. Liam had to piece together what he had found out by following the sigils that had been given to him. What the two didn’t realize was that the bodies were part of the ritual and overall picture. They held the key to solving the mystery.

Liam rushed out of the room and straight to the morgue where he knew Theo was.

“Liam, why are you here?” Theo asked as Liam burst into the usually quiet room.

“I need to see the bodies.” Liam told Theo. “I need to see what was written on them.”

“I’m not allowed to show them to you.” Theo said slowly, making Liam roll his eyes.

“Listen, if you want me to tell you what’s written and its purpose, you are going to have to show me the bodies.” He said, walking closer to the older male. “The clues are sitting right there, and you are going to keep them from me for what reason?”

“Protocol. I’m not allowed to show civilians the bodies unless its for identification purposes.” Theo offered his weak counter argument. Liam could see that Theo didn’t believe it himself.

“Well, just think of it as me identifying the markings.” Liam smirked and shrugged. Theo rolled his eyes, but Liam could see a smile forming.

“Since it’s for identification purposes…” Theo sighed over exaggeratedly. He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a few folders. “These are the pictures that were taken during autopsy, the pictures from the crime scene should be with Mason or Corey.”

“Do I need both?” Liam asked as he took the folders. Theo offered him such a grim smile that it sent a shiver down his spine. “Never mind…”

Theo got back to cleaning up the morgue – which he had been doing before Liam had come in – while Liam pulled out his phone and sent a text to Mason asking about the crime scene photos. When that was done, Liam sat down at Theo’s desk and started flipping through the folders that he had been given.

The photographs were gruesome to say the least and Liam was a bit reluctant to see what the victims had looked like _before_ they were washed.

“You don’t seem to be bothered by what you are seeing.” Theo commented as he went to join Liam.

“When I was younger, I watched my dad get murdered. Gruesome scenes never seemed to bother me much after that.” Liam said off handedly. He was starting to pick up on the missing information that he needed in order to complete the puzzle.

What he found wouldn’t lead them directly to the killers, but it would put things into perspective. He would at least know why the victims were children and why they were being killed in such a ritualistically brutal manner.

“Must have scarred you pretty bad.” Theo said.

“It took a while for me to get the images out of my head, but longer to be able to think about the incident with throwing up or passing out.” Liam shrugged. He noted down a symbol that he had seen being repeated multiple times.

“You would pass out if you just _thought_ about what happened?” Theo asked, not a hint of teasing in his tone. It seemed as if he was shocked at how badly Liam had reacted to his father’s death.

“Yes, I would just have to see blood or hear someone scream before I passed out.” Liam thinks back to his childhood, where he his body’s flight or fight response was to pass out, preventing the situation from hurting him. “What’s your excuse?”

“Excuse for what?” Theo asked, clearly confused.

“For being able to handle such gruesomeness. There has to be a reason why you are taking all of this so well.” Liam looked at Theo, judging his facial expression and body language. The man seemed tense as he thought of a response. Before either of them could say anything, Liam’s phone rang. “Yes?”

“Hello, Professor Dunbar.” Alec’s voice came through the receiver. “I took care of your classes for today and picked up your other assignments that were meant to be done.”

Liam looked at the time and realized that he had forgotten that he even had a job. He was so caught up in solving the case that he forgot to get to work. He had even gotten to the precinct in record time and had managed to have a proper breakfast but still forgot that that wasn’t what he had been doing with his life just the day before.

“Thank you so much, Alec. Can you ask Mr. Pierce if he can take my classes for the week?” Liam said, realizing why Scott had given him an assistant. He was clearly a mess.

“I’ll check with him.” Alec answered and Liam could hear him writing something down.

“Come to the BHPD precinct if you are free, I need your help.” Liam said before hanging up when Alec had agreed.

“You really want to rope everybody into this, don’t you?” Theo smiled at him.

“My assistant is part of the package.” Liam smiled back, making Theo laugh. Liam noted how nice Theo’s voice sounded as he turned back to the pictures in front of him. His focus on the gruesome pictures was almost enough to stop his heart from fluttering at the sound. Almost.

“I worked for a child and organ trafficking ring.” Theo said after a while. Liam looked up from the desk, clearly shocked and confused at the sudden topic change. “You asked why I don’t get squeamish.”

“I don’t want you to think that you have to tell me just because I shared my story.” Liam said, noticing how uncomfortable Theo seemed to be.

“Well I already started.” Theo shrugged, lifting himself to sit on the examination table.

“Go on then.” Liam prompted gently.

“I was around ten, got kidnapped to have my organs sold, but I was a sickly child so there was not much they could sell.” Theo started with his story. “I don’t know if it was pity – though I refuse to believe that it was – but the three doctors who took me saved my life. They gave me a new heart which helped curb my asthma and improved my overall health. They were called the Dread Doctors, fitting for what they did to people.”

“Wouldn’t giving you a new heart be counter productive to them trying to _make_ money off of _selling_ organs?” Liam asked.

“It was, but only later did I find that my heart had come from my sister. They simply harvested my whole family and gave me my sister’s heart just because they could.” Theo stared off into the distance and Liam wondered if he was going to say anything more. Theo continued after a few minutes, seemingly out of it. “When I found that out, I kept having nightmares about her coming to take her heart back, blaming me for living while she had to die.”

“Survivor’s guilt.” Liam said, remembering something about it from one of Lydia’s psychology books. Theo nodded and smiled ruefully.

“They used me to gather more children and potential donors. More people like my family. I had been there for so long that I couldn’t even remember my parents’ faces, but I always remembered hers.” Theo took a deep breath in. “I got out when I turned 16, because that was the age that Tara had been when she died.”

“How– how did you get out?” Liam was afraid to ask, but curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“I killed them.” Theo shrugged. “It was for the best, so I did what I had to do and killed all three of them. I don’t even regret it.”

“You shouldn’t regret saving your own life.” Liam told him firmly. Theo looked shocked for a moment before he smiled. Liam’s heart stuttered again.

“I guess I shouldn’t.”

Theo’s phone rang, making them laugh at the break in atmosphere.

“Yes, Nolan?” Theo answered, still smiling at Liam. “Bring him up to the morgue, Liam has work for him.”

“Alec?” Liam asked when Theo dropped the call.

“Yes, Nolan bumped into him trying to convince Harry that you called for him.” Theo laughed.

“I swear that that guy doesn’t like me.” Liam laughed with him.

“From what I hear, Harry doesn’t like anybody. When I first arrived, he tried to give me a visitor’s pass even though I kept telling him that I worked here.” Theo rolled his eyes. “He only relented when Mason had come in and vetted for me. I think he has a crush on Mason because he gives Corey such evil glares.”

“A shame really because Mason hasn’t even spared him a glance.” Liam laughed loudly as Nolan and Alec entered the morgue. The two of them were a little worried that they were going to see a dead body.

“You called for us?” Nolan asked.

“Liam has something for you to help him with.” Theo indicated to the professor.

“Is Nolan allowed to fetch files for me?” Liam asked Theo.

“I’ll go and get them, just give them their task.” Theo answered.

“Okay, I need you both to go back to the conference room and sort the pictures back into their individual cases, then lay the pictures out in circles, just as they were on the sigils.” Liam instructed the two assistants. He turned around and started drawing on a piece of paper. “Then I need you to copy down all the symbols, _exactly_ the way you see them, on to a piece of paper. One page per victim, read it counterclockwise like this.”

Liam handed them the piece of paper which had the sigil without any symbols drawn on it. There were arrows indicating how it should be read and from which direction. Alec and Nolan nodded.

“Anything else we should do Professor?” Alec asked.

“Just that. It’ll keep you busy for a while.” Liam told them. They nodded and left while Theo followed, intending on getting Liam the rest of his pictures. Liam sent a quick message to Mason to tell him that Theo was getting him what he needed.

He turned back to the pictures he already had and sighed. There was so much information that he had to filter through that Liam doubted he would be able to do it. The thought of what Theo had gone through and how he had to save himself was enough to give him motivation. If he couldn’t do it, then those kids would have to save themselves, and they didn’t have the luxury of six years like Theo did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to post. Here's a double update because you deserve it and I'm in a good mood!  
> -Chika


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's your other chapter! Enjoy!

Alec never thought that he’d ever be in a police department again. He had done everything in his power to avoid the police headquarters but was somehow dragged back because of his job as a _teaching assistant_.

“This is the conference room. We didn’t know what to call it and Dr Raeken had refused to let Corey and I call it our headquarters.” Nolan said as he showed Alec into the room. They both stopped in shock at how messy the room was. Alec recovered quicker than Nolan, having already seen Liam’s ability to create disaster.

He put down his bag and start clearing up the pictures and papers that had been left lying around. Nolan started helping when he had gotten over his initial shock.

“These must be the pictures that the professor was telling us about.” Alec said as he placed some of the pictures into a neat stack in the center of the table.

“Yes, but with how he was working, we might have to resort them out before doing what he asked.” Nolan replied, working on gathering up the papers and opened folders. “Does he always work like this?”

“From what I’ve seen. I haven’t been his assistant for long, but so far his office was this messy. He even forgot he had class today.” Alec supplied. “The funny part is that while everything looks messy, he knows where everything is.”

“Really?” Nolan looked around the room. He could see what Alec meant, seeing that the folders were all open to specific pages while the pictures where gather according to dates. “Wow, it’s scary.”

“I know, but he gets his work done.” Alec shrugged. “How is it working here?”

“Also just started actually. I used to work at another forensic lab in Hawkings.” Nolan and Alec finished clearing up and each grabbed a pen and note pad. Alec went to pull the rest of the pictures off the white board while Nolan started sorting through the pictures on the desk.

“Really? Isn’t that a little far from here?” Alec asked.

“It is, but I wanted a fresh start, so I applied for the job. I’m glad I got it since I got fired from my last job.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.” Alec added quicky.

“My superior got drunk quite often, so one day he messed up a report and it nearly sent the wrong man to prison. So, they fired him for negligence and me as an extension.” Nolan told him. Alec could see that Nolan didn’t consider much of the story, treating it as if it was someone else’s story.

“How’s working here then? Is Dr Raeken treating you any better?”

“Dr Theo Raeken is his own problem.” Nolan laughed. “He treats me so much better and actually has confidence in my skills, but he ignores me every other time and seems a little to confident in himself. Not to mention he blurs the lines between personal assistant and forensic assistant.”

“Liam is the same, though the dean had warned me that my work would be extending into his personal life a little bit.” Alec admitted. The two of them grabbed random stacks of pictures and got to work laying them out in circles.

“Isn’t that hard?”

“Kind of but the pay is good and Liam’s actually nice. Though I have only known him for one day.” Alec laughed. When they were finished laying out the pictures and making sure that they were correct, they started the transcribing process. Alec had slightly more experience with symbols than Nolan, so it was easier for him to copy them down. While Nolan’s lack of experience, however, helped him copy the symbols exactly the way he saw them without his own knowledge trying to correct it.

“I never thought I would be here.” Nolan said after a few minutes of silence. “Looking back on my childhood, I’d always wanted to be an astronaut and later on an accountant.”

“An accountant?” Alec pulled a face, making Nolan laugh.

“Yeah, I really wanted to handle money.”

“Then how did you end up here? Solving a case with a teaching assistant for ancient history.” Alec asked, as curious as he had ever been. The change between accounting and science was too big.

“I made some mistakes while growing up, nearly killed someone. So, I decided, _‘Why don’t I focus on saving lives instead of taking them?_ ’.” Nolan picked up a picture that held an especially complicated symbol. “At first, I wanted to become a fire fighter or police officer, but physical exercise has never been my strong point. So, I turned to academics and found that I liked science as much as I liked accounting.”

“Wow. I can’t imagine doing something like that. I hated science.” Alec told him. He admired the fact that Nolan had decided that he wanted to help people and had actually changed his entire career path just to fulfil those dreams.

“What about you? How did you end up as an ancient history student?”

“Well, my story isn’t as noble as yours or anything.” Alec laughed awkwardly. “I’m actually an orphan, my family died in some freak accident with a drunk driver when I was a teenager. My mother studied anthropology when she was in university, so I also chose to study it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Nolan said, equally as awkward. Alec smiled at his weak attempt at comfort.

“It’s okay. It happened a while ago, but from then on, I kind of never wanted to have anything to do with law enforcement. Just the thought of having to deal with similar situations in the future turned me away.” Alec shrugged pathetically. He half wished he were as brave as Nolan for deciding that he wanted to help people.

“There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to join law enforcement or anything similar. You are still doing what you wanted to do so that should be more than enough.” Nolan smiled. “And somehow you still ended up helping the police out.”

“I know.” Alec laughed at the turn of events in his life. “Be careful, you might end up having to do accounting somewhere in the near future.”

“I’m not sure if I want to. Numbers would be so boring compared to everything that I’ve done so far.” Nolan groaned. “I can just see it, that one case that has me going through accounting books because that might be the reason that someone was killed.”

“I’m guessing that mean I might be using my anthropology knowledge to help solve a case about suspicious bones.” Alec added. “Are these bones and artifacts genuine. If so, could they be related to the missing link? Or were they just a murder weapon.”

“Just imagine still working with the doctor and professor?” Nolan said as he laughed at Alec’s fake case questions. “There we are trying to help solve the case while holding a broom and making coffee.”

“I think we should just become secretaries, maybe that’s our true calling.” Alec mused. “None of this wishy-washy stuff about forensics and anthropology.”

“We would transition quite nicely but I don’t think the pay is worth it.” Nolan pointed out.

“You have a point there. Unless we work for rich people, then we might even get a bonus on top of our bonus.” Alec suggested.

“What if, Theo and Liam are the rich people we end up working for?” Nolan asked, fake fear on his face.

“That’s actually a possibility since I’ve seen the car that Liam drives and it screams money.” Alec agreed. He put aside his stack of pictures and the corresponding transcript before moving on to another pile.

“So does Theo’s, but I guess it’s because they are single.” Nolan considered as he chewed on the back of his pen.

“Not for long though.” Alec smirked. The two shared a look before they burst out laughing.

***

Liam messaged his shoulders as he drove his car towards his apartment building. He needed to get at least four hours of sleep before he came back to finish working. He wasn’t even halfway with transcribing what was on the victims’ bodies and it didn’t help that there were two sets of pictures per victim. The serial killers really made Liam’s work harder for him. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep as the only reason he was headed home was because he needed books on some of the symbols.

When he arrived home, he barely had the chance to relax before his phone started ringing. Sighing, Liam checked the caller ID. It was his ex-girlfriend. Liam mentally facepalmed as he remembered he was supposed to be taking Hayden for the next week.

“Yes?” He answered, not prepared for the hysterical crying on the other side of the phone. “Gwen, what’s wrong?”

“Hayden, it’s Hayden.” The woman managed to stutter out.

“What’s wrong with her?” Liam asked, fearing the worst. Hayden had always been prone to illness, no thanks to her mother’s previously ‘frivolous’ lifestyle.

“She’s missing. They took her, Liam.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will come out tomorrow or Monday, depending on school work and proofreading (but most likely on Monday).  
> -Chika


	10. INTERLUDE ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter because I'm sad and just received bad news.

**_High School_ **

When Mason Hewitt first met Corey Bryant face to face, he had dropped a thick encyclopedia onto his own foot. It had probably been the most embarrassing time of his life, but he wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Corey had been kind and even massaged his foot for him, always asking if he was hurting Mason or if his talented hand ministrations were helping. Mason had to use all of his left-over brain power to refrain from gapping like a fish and actually _answer_ the handsome male in front of him.

“No, no. You aren’t hurting me at all, it feels kind of good actually.” Mason smiled, in what he hoped wasn’t a star struck manner. He had seen Corey around during the lacrosse games before but had never spoken to him before. Mason did _not_ have a crush on Corey Bryant, he simply had an appreciation for beauty.

“That’s good. I hope I didn’t startle you.” Corey smiled. He had come around one of the bookshelves of the library that Mason was volunteering at.

“No, you didn’t. I’m just clumsy.” Mason laughed the entire incident off.

“I’m Corey Bryant, by the way.” Corey said as he set Mason’s foot back down. “Ms. Ramsey said I would find you here.”

“You were looking for me?” Mason asked, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart in his chest. He also refrained from pointing out that almost everybody in the town knew who Corey was.

“Yes, it turns out that we are volunteering together for our final year community service assignment.” Corey stood up from where he was kneeling in front of Mason. The boy seated on the chair tried to keep his happiness off his face.

“Really? Well that’s nice to know.” Mason said lamely. To Corey’s credit, he managed to hold back his laughter.

“Ms. Ramsey said that I should help you with filing away of the rest of the books.” Corey said, changing the subject to Mason obvious relief.

“Well there’s not much to do. Has she shown you how to pack the books or do you already know or…?” Mason trailed off as he put on his shoe back on.

“You might have to show me. I don’t really spend much time in the library despite how much I read.” The boy said sheepishly. Mason simply nodded and smiled. Corey being a reader added points in Mason’s books.

“I think I first learned how to pack the books when I first arrived here in freshmen year.” Mason said as they headed back to where the book cart was. “I spent so much time in the library that I just picked it up quite easily.”

“Didn’t you have friends?” Corey asked as he watched Mason look for the place of one book. “Sorry that was rude.”

“No, it’s okay.” Mason laughed. “I did. I actually met one of my friends here in the library. My free periods and after school time were spent here in the library.”

“Why do you like the library so much? Not a sports or outdoor fan?” Corey placed a book where Mason showed him.

“I like sports. I’ve actually watched quite a few of the lacrosse matches when I could.” Mason and Corey moved to a new aisle. “I just prefer being on the stands rather than playing.”

“I understand. I just I get too antsy, then I just _have_ to play.”

“That must have been why you became captain. Your need to play.” Mason mused.

“You knew I was lacrosse captain?” Corey asked. Mason looked at him in an ‘are you kidding me?’ facial expression.

“I think everyone knows who you are. You are literally the captain of one of the most popular sports at our school.” Mason rolled his eyes. Corey looked embarrassed and Mason felt bad for him. “How does it feel to be famous?”

“A little embarrassing.” Corey said, making Mason laugh. Corey joined in and the two of them stood there in the library laughing at the situation. Their laughter died and the two stood there in silence, simply looking at each other and smiling.

*

Mason remade his bed for the third time in thirty minutes. Corey was coming over so that they could watch CSI: Miami together. Corey had never watched that version of the NCIS/CSI series. They had gone on many dates together but never had they been over to each other’s house before. Corey had always been reluctant to talk about his parents, so they had decided to spend the night at Mason’s house.

Mason nervous about having the other male in room. His room was his personal space so if Corey didn’t like it, he wouldn’t know what to do. Mason knew that Corey wouldn’t be like that, but his anxiety was getting the better of him.

“Are you practicing working at a hotel?” His mother said from his doorway. She walked into the room and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “From how you describe him, I’m sure everything thing will go smoothly.”

“Hopefully.” Mason sighed, slightly leaning into her comforting touch. He was almost relaxed when the doorbell rang and wound him up again. “Show time.”

Mason walked down the stairs in a calm pace, as to not fall down the stairs and make a fool of himself before he even opened the door. He was more nervous than he had been when they had their first date. Corey had taken him on a picnic where they read Mason’s favorite crime novel, The Ragdoll.

They had both discovered their love for crime novels, shows and movies, constantly trying to solve the case before they reached the end. It had become a tradition to spend at least two days in the week watching or reading something crime related while trying to solve the mystery. CSI: Miami had been the most recent show that Corey wanted to look at, hence his visit to the Hewitt house, that Friday.

“Hey.” Mason said as he opened the door. Corey looked great in his dark grey sweater and blue jeans. “Glad you could make it.”

“Glad I could come.” Corey smiled. Mason stepped out of the way to let him in and closed the door behind him.

“My parents promised to stay out of our hair only until dinner time though.” Mason led the other male up the stairs to his bedroom, which his mother had thankfully vacated. “We normally have pizza on Fridays but when they heard that you were coming and most probably sleeping over, they said that we _have_ to have dinner together.”

“So, your parents want to meet me?” Corey summarized, a nervous hint to his voice.

“Basically.” Mason shrugged and smiled sheepishly. As they entered his room, Corey took a look around. He seemed to approve on what Mason had in the room as he offered small smiles and nods at the figures and posters he saw. He even trailed his fingers over the books that Mason had on the shelf above his desk.

“It’s a good thing you told me now or else I wouldn’t have come.” Corey joked as he sat down on Mason’s bed.

“It’s a good thing I only found out a few minutes ago then. Wouldn’t want to miss our series date.” Mason joined him on the bed, but not before switching off the overhead light and grabbing his laptop. There were already snacks and drinks sitting on the desk.

“Season 1 episode 1, let’s go.”

*

“So, Corey, I hear you are interested in going into law enforcement. Do you know what side?” Mr. Hewitt asked as he passed the boy his wife’s famous beef casserole. The man was a lawyer who worked besides people like Mr. Whitmore, who was known for being ruthless and unrelenting.

“I was thinking of joining the FBI. Maybe as an undercover agent or just an agent who works behind the scenes, haven’t really decide yet.” Corey admitted.

“Did Mason tell you that he wants to become a detective?” The older man asked, to which Corey nodded. The two boyfriends had talked about their career paths quite often. “I think that you two would make amazing enforcers of the law.”

“What a power couple.” Mrs. Hewitt joked, making Mason hang his head in embarrassment and what looked like shame. Corey simply smiled.

“Could we please eat our meal with out making me die of embarrassment?” Mason pleaded.

“I thought that was a compliment.” Mrs. Hewitt faked innocence, making Corey laugh. He really liked his boyfriend’s parents.

“Behave Mason or we might choose Corey as our new son.” Mr. Hewitt warned, making Mason roll his eyes in Corey’s direction.

“I hear you are sleeping over.” Mrs. Hewitt changed the topic, to her son’s relief.

“If you would have me.” Corey smiled.

“Are your parents okay with it? Wouldn’t want to anger them now.” She offered him a smile back.

“They aren’t really interested in what I do.” Corey shrugged. He’s parents had always been too busy to even notice when he wasn’t there. They hadn’t even noticed when he and the beacon hills lacrosse team made it on to the front page of the town newspaper. He wondered if they even knew what he looked like.

“That’s a little bit neglectful.” Mr. Hewitt muttered.

“Well they are still paying for my school fees and everything else, so I can’t complain.” Corey shrugged, not knowing what he was supposed to say to that. It wasn’t as if he talked about his absent parents to anybody else. It wasn’t really anybody else’s business.

“Well, son, you are welcome here anytime you want.” The man roughly but affectionately patted Corey’s shoulder.

“Great, your sob story got me replaced.” Mason joked, making everyone laugh and lightening the mood.

***

**_Police Academy_ **

Mason’s acceptance letter into the police academy came a week before Corey’s. He hid it underneath his mattress until the day that Corey’s letter was supposed to arrive. Out of fear, Mason hadn’t opened his yet, or told anybody that he had gotten it. Whenever it was brought up, he chalked it off to being lost in the mail or not having been sent yet.

That was why when Corey opened his letter from the FBI academy, Mason held his breath, praying that the same words were printed in his. If Corey got rejected, then he wanted to get rejected too. If Corey got accepted, then it didn’t matter what his said. He didn’t want to leave Corey behind. After all, another year with his parents wasn’t the same for Corey.

“So, what does it say?” Mason asked, leaning closer to his boyfriend. His own parents were sitting across from them on the longest couch.

“He hasn’t even gotten a chance to read it with you hovering over him, honey.” Mrs. Hewitt said.

“Sorry.” Mason apologized but didn’t move backwards.

“Dear Mr. Bryant, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into our program starting–” Corey didn’t get to finish as Mason had flung himself into his arms, making him drop the letter.

“Congratulations, Corey.” Mason said as he hugged Corey. He had never been so proud of someone before, not even when Corey scored nearly all the winning goals in their lacrosse matches. “Wait here, I have something for you.”

Mason ran up the stairs to his bedroom passing the desk which held Corey’s neatly wrapped gift and headed for his own letter. He took it out and ripped it open, reading the words that were printed inside.

Corey came up to his room ten minutes later and found Mason still there, kneeling on the floor, rereading the letter over and over again, with tears in his eyes.

“Mason what’s wrong? What’s that?” Corey asked as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him close. He took the letter out of Mason’s hands before reading it himself. “Oh, baby, don’t cry.”

“But- but I got in.” Mason sobbed. He had never been so happy in his life. He and his amazing boyfriend were going to the schools of their dreams, learning the things that they wanted to learn in order to do more for themselves and for the world.

“We both got in.” Corey said gently. “But why didn’t you tell me that you got your letter already?”

“I wanted to open it when you got yours.” Mason told him, wiping his wet face.

‘You could have still told me. No wonder you’ve been so nervous the entire week.” Corey laughed, cupping Mason’s face in his hands.

“I still have a gift for you.” Mason said, reaching for his last desk drawer. He usually never put anything in it so it had been a guarantee that Corey wouldn’t open it. He pulled out the gift that was wrapped with blue and grey wrapping paper. “For getting in.”

“And what if I didn’t get in?” Corey asked as he unwrapped the gift.

“Then it would have been a consolation gift.” Mason smiled. Corey took out a book that he had been eying the last time they had gone to their nearby bookstore for Mason’s shift. It was The Silent Patient, a story that Corey had been dying to read with Mason.

“Thank you so much.” Corey said as he kissed his boyfriend.

“You’re welcome.”

“Come, your mother said something about a congratulatory meal and there is no way I’m going to pass that up.” Corey said as he pulled Mason to his feet.

Mrs. Hewitt _didn’t_ make twice as much food when she found out that Mason had also made it into the police academy, but she _did_ hit him on the head for keeping it from them.

***

**_FBI/BHPD (present)_ **

Working at separate jobs that were so far away from each other, was difficult. There were days that Mason didn’t speak to Corey, weeks that he didn’t see him, and months where they went in and out of worrying, but the two made it work. They had been in a long distant relationship and had made it work all those years ago and would keep making it work.

Back when they were both still in their academies, one of them would drive up to the other’s school so that they could either have a reading date or just to spar. It helped both of them improve their skills while spending time with each other. It also helped in training them to put their feelings aside when it came to work. When they were in the ring or on the mat then they were not boyfriends but opponents.

Corey learned to focus on his work and not worry about Mason and Mason learned to deal with cases and not try and relate them to Corey. Work and play were two different things and fighting against it each other helped them realize that. It made sure that they didn’t slack off or hold back just because the other male was their friend.

And years later, they were still kicking each other’s asses on the mat.

“One point to Mason.” Their umpire, who happened to be Brett, called out. “That’s a tie out of four.”

“You fight dirty.” Corey said breathlessly as Mason pulled him up off the mat.

“I fight smart.” Mason smirked. He had won the first and the last match, with Corey obviously winning the middle two. Brett handed them each a bottle of water and a towel. He had been lounging in the precinct break room when they had snagged him and made him umpire. Brett had happily gone along, satisfied with just watching them kick each other around. He had known them ever since he had been roommates with Mason back in their academy days.

“Yeah, that’s what that was.” Corey rolled his eyes but smiled. Mason shook his head but said nothing as he reached for his phone in order to check for any messages or missed calls. There was only one and it was from Liam via the group chat.

**_ Case 1203 Group Chat _ **

**_Liam_ ** _: Conference room NOW_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might come out of Thursday depending on how things go, but don't hold your breath. Thank you for reading.  
> -Chika


	11. CHAPTER NINE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd apologise for being late but life hasn't been treating me right, and it's not my fault. But hope you enjoy.

Liam rushed into the conference room, out of breath and disheveled. The rest of the group turned towards him in shock. They had just been joking around before the history professor had come in.

“Liam, what’s wrong?” Mason asked as Theo pushed a chair towards Liam. The two of them got him to sit as Corey got him a glass of water.

“Hayden, they kidnapped her.” Liam said after he finished drinking the glass of water.

“Who’s Hayden?” Alec asked his boss.

“My daughter.” Liam let out a shuddering breath and rested his head in his hands. He looked like he had seen better days.

They all exchanged looks, silently asking if anybody else knew that he had a daughter. They were all confused.

“You have a daughter? Why didn’t you ever bring her up?” Theo asked the question that was on everyone else’s minds.

“This isn’t the case that makes you want to bring up your own children.” Liam commented dryly. “Her mother and I separated before she was born, before I found out that Gwen was even pregnant. It took a lot of negotiating before I could get Gwen to sober up her act and raise Hayden right.”

“Why didn’t you keep her then?” Mason asked.

“I wanted to, but there were other factors that stopped that from happening. Since she doesn’t go to school, she spends a month with her mother then a month with me.” Liam smiled sadly. “It isn’t the best step up, but I still get to see her. Today was going to be the first day of Hayden’s month with me.”

“How do you know that she was taken by the same people? It could have been anyone.” Corey asked, switching to cop mode.

“She sent me this.” Liam pulled out his phone and opened the message that Gwen had sent. He passed the phone to Theo who was the closest to him. “It’s their ‘logo’ so to speak. Every case, every sigil, every body, has that symbol.”

“So now we have to find out why they chose to kidnap her.” Mason said as he passed the phone to Alec and Nolan. The picture was of a car window with a familiar symbol painted on it.

“Who ever drew that symbol knows it off by heart. There are no mistakes, no stopping points. Once they put the brush onto the window, they didn’t lift it until the symbol was complete. As if they were writing their own name.” Liam told them.

“The other kidnapping locations, did they have this symbol?” Mason asked the team.

“I didn’t hear much about this symbol being there, maybe once or twice. I could relook over everything.” Corey offered.

“No, I want you to go and check if your contacts heard anything. Maybe keep their eyes and ears open for anything new.” Mason took charge. “Theo and Nolan look at the past case materials. Liam and Alec, you two focus on deciphering what ever they keep writing on and around the bodies. Let’s get to work. Liam get Gwen to come to the precinct. I want to understand what happened.”

“She’s supposed to be on her way. I’ll check where she is.” Liam pulled out his phone and dialed Gwen’s number. Everyone was glad that he was much calmer than when he had first come in. None of them had kids so they couldn’t exactly relate to his pain at his missing child. Despite that, they understood what it felt like to worry about a close family member.

For Liam, the case had become personal, that meant that it was personal for them. He was their teammate, and they knew to look out for their own.

“Let me head out.” Corey said. He gently patted Liam’s shoulder on his way out of the room. Theo waved for Nolan to follow and left behind Corey. Alec sighed. Scott had warned him that Liam rarely got worked up and it was best if he didn’t, as the results would be devastating. He wondered if this would count as getting worked up.

***

“Miss…” Mason said as he held out his hand towards the clearly stressed mother. The two of them were in his office, ready for Mason to file a missing person’s report.

“Just call me Gwen.” She said, nervously taking his hand in hers. Mason had the quick comparison of the lady with a recovering addict.

“Gwen, please explain what happened tonight.” Mason opened his notebook to a new page and uncapped his pen. He wasn’t going to write anything down unless it stood out to him. The recorder would get everything that they said.

“So, I stopped for gas and some snacks at the gas station.” Gwen started. “I get hungry often and so does Hayden. Since it was around three or four, I knew that Liam wouldn’t feed her until half five. He has a routine with her.”

“What happened after you stopped?” Mason asked her, trying to get her back on track.

“We stopped, I filled the tank while Hayden stayed in the car. Then I left to go and pay and get the snacks. Hayden stayed in the car, but only after I had to shout at her.” Gwen shook her head, tears in her eyes. “I don’t need Liam to tell me that I’m the reason that she’s gone. We even argued for a bit.”

“You and Liam?” Mason didn’t know that Liam knew more about the case than he was letting on.

“No, Liam rarely even looks at me now a days. He hasn’t ever since we broke up.” She laughed a bitter sounding laugh. “I fought with Hayden. I think she’s turning out more like Liam than like me, which neither of us would want. If she turns out like either of us, then she’s going to have a rough life ahead of her. She didn’t end up with the best parents.”

“May you tell me why you and Hayden fought.” Mason wasn’t interested in learning about people’s personal lives and problems, especially now when a friend of his was going through a difficult time.

“She wanted to get out of the car, just to stretch her legs or something and I didn’t want. She has a lot of energy and tends to run around a lot. I wasn’t about to deal with a hyperactive five year old, running around a gas station.” Gwen rolled her eyes. “The only person she listens to is Liam, even when she’s with me, she follows his rules and doesn’t do what he told her she shouldn’t do. So, I shouted at her about it. Told her that if she didn’t behave then she would never see Liam again, that bad kids get punished.”

“Then she behaved?”

“She huffed and sulked but sat still. Then I left. I was paying when I looked out the window and noticed that I couldn’t see her, and some asshole had painted on my car. Run out to the car and my daughter’s gone and my car is ruined.” Mason could see the woman’s anger. He wasn’t sure if she was angrier about the car or her missing child.

“Okay. We’ll review the security footage–”

“To see if I’m lying or if I had anything to do with her disappearance? I know how Liam’s friends are, always accusing me of being a bad mother and not raising my child right.” Gwen shouted angrily, banging her hands on the desk.

“We review the footage to see how they kidnapped Hayden and vandalized your car without anyone else noticing. Your parenting methods are not our concern for the moment and will stay that way while we work on this case. Liam might be my friend, but I am a police officer first.” Mason said calmly. The woman scoffed but didn’t say anything. Mason inwardly sighed and stood up. “This is my card, please contact me if you remember anything else. We’ll work hard to find your daughter and bring her back to you safely.”

“I better not hear about my daughter’s death on the news.” She said as Mason handed her off to another police officer.

“You won’t.” Mason smiled, albeit a little fake. He was surprised that Liam had even dated her. He shook his head and left to stop the recorder and get his notebook. He had other people to talk to about the disappearances of their kids.

*

Mason was leaving the third victim’s house when he got a phone call.

“Detective Hewitt.” Mason picked up.

“Got a new body, kids' playground.”


	12. Beacon Hills Gazette

## **Beacon Hills Gazette**

* * *

* * *

* * *

# IS THE BHPD EVEN TRYING?

**_[Photograph by Jason Future]_ **

In light of the recent murder, questions are rising on whether the Beacon Hills Police Department are even working to catch the criminals that have been kidnaping and ritualistically murdering our children. It has been revealed by an inside party that another child had gotten kidnapped, adding on to the 35 already missing children.

It is no secret that every time a child goes missing, another victim turns up dead, making sure that the number of missing children never decreases. With the knowledge that the public has, it is only a speculation how much knowledge the BHPD has amassed but are still unable to catch the criminals.

| 

  
  
  
  
  


| 

The BHPD’s representatives and captain have refused to give out any information on how the case is progressing and the public can only speculate that they haven’t been able to find any useful information. If this is true, we can only wonder how good the ‘best of the best’ are if the created task force hasn’t been able to stop one murder or kidnapping.

  


  
By Chika Lohaine  
  
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	13. CHAPTER TEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter for the people who keep reading even when I don't stick to my own timetable. Life has been hectic but I found the time to write - even though I feel asleep while writing...  
> Anyway, enjoy!  
> NB: I kind of used a different format to write the chapter but it adds on to the story more than takes away.  
> -Chika

**Mason**

Mason looked at the body on the ground. He strangely felt no angry or sadness towards the situation, just numbness. Mason would – could – never get used to seeing something as gruesome as the scene that was displayed in front of him, but he felt detached from the entire thing. He didn’t take note of the people would were working around, or the reporters trying to get a picture, or even Theo who was trying to determine time of death.

It was just him, surrounded by death. Maybe that was how Theo felt when he looked at every victim that came through the police morgue. Mason rubbed his hand over his face. He would need to shave soon.

“Two hours ago, by strangulation.” Theo told him, a grimace on his face. Mason wondered if Theo felt as tired as he looked.

“Hayden went missing three hours ago. That means that they need to kidnap someone before they kill their next victim.” Mason deduced.

“They already started with the ritual by the time Hayden was taken.” Theo said. He pointed to a cut on the child’s chest. “The amount of bruising and blood around the wound suggest that it was made at _least_ an hour before they died.”

“What does that mean?”

“Even if they didn’t kidnap Hayden, they would have taken someone.” Theo told him. Mason’s blood went cold. These killers knew that they were going to get a new victim. They were clearly organized enough to be that sure of their movements.

“This means that they have connections.” Mason muttered out loud. “They were sure that there was going to be a child for them to kidnap.”

“This case just keeps getting better and better.” Theo muttered. “I’m taking the body.”

“Go ahead. I have other things to look at.” Mason waved him off. He left Theo and the other police officers to finish up. He had to find out more. Mason had a feeling that the people involved in this case had high positions in society. That would make the case much more difficult.

*

“You should check the news.” Brett said as Mason walked into the precinct. “There is already a news article out and its against your task force.”

“Who released it?” Mason asked, sighing as Brett fell into step beside him.

“The gazette. They are wondering if you are even trying to stop what’s happening.”

“Great, just what I need.” Mason shook his head. He didn’t need this from the press. “Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem.” Brett shrugged. He turned left when they passed near his desk, giving Mason a little salute. Mason continued towards his own office, intent on finding out who had the ability to pull such strings.

***

**Theo**

Theo pulled on his scrubs and surgical gloves. He wasn’t excited to do another autopsy on a child’s body, but he had no choice. First, he would have to start with taking pictures for Liam. He picked up the camera and started.

Pictures were also taken at the crime scene, but Theo always went into more detail, showing exactly what the victim went through. When he deemed that he had a sufficient number of pictures, he put the camera down and went to wash the body. He did so very meticulously, not wanting to miss any detail.

He would have to work through the autopsy systematically just so he could find any piece of information that could help Liam find his daughter and catch the killer.

Theo had to admit that he was shocked that Liam even had a child. Yes, he hadn’t known the teacher for that long, but Liam had never come across as someone who had a mini-Liam running around. Theo wondered what Hayden looked like and whether or not she had a similar personality to Liam.

Did she look like Liam or like her mother? Or both? Theo had caught a glimpse of the woman as a police officer showed her out of the precinct. She was pretty and seemed to have a lot of confidence, even while her daughter was missing.

Theo didn’t miss the telltale signs of a drug addiction though. He understood why Liam had talked about her cleaning up her act. No child should be raised in a situation where they are surrounded by drugs.

Theo wondered what Liam was doing and whether or not he was panicking. Theo wasn’t sure if he would panic in such a situation. Maybe his past with the Dread Doctors would have made him stronger when dealing with such situations. They always made sure that he didn’t waste his time crying but focused on doing his job right.

Theo gently ran his hand through the child’s hair, washing out the blood that had dripped from the forehead to the hair line. It reminded him of one of the children that he had been forced to deliver to the doctors. He had lied and said that the police were near them and almost caught him. Theo had to make it up to them by luring two drunk men a few days later.

He had never been interested in hurting children, even when it came at the expense on his own skin. The doctors never hesitated to beat him should they feel he needed it, but that had never motivated Theo into hurting other children. Adults were much easier, seeing as Liam never fully trusted them.

“Please tell me you are doing better than I am.” Mason said as he walked in.

“Haven’t found anything yet. I already sent the blood samples with Nolan, so I’m waiting on his report.” Theo told him. He moved on to washing the rest of the body. He gently moved the tap towards the face and neck. He could feel the cuts underneath his fingers, through the thin latex gloves. They felt much worse than they looked.

“So, we are really stuck finding bodies?” Mason sighed, sitting heavily in Theo’s chair. “Why do I feel like I’m losing against an invisible enemy?”

“Because we don’t know who they are yet.” Theo paused the washing to look at Mason. “And once we do, we win, because nobody can get away with such a crime.”

“You’re so optimistic.” Mason scowled.

“If we aren’t, what about Liam? He needs someone and we have to be them.” Theo sighed, laying the child’s head back onto the table. “I look at this child and I think: What if it was Hayden? We never knew her, but we know Liam, and we can’t finish this case without him.”

“Then let me get back to work. Someone has to bring Hayden home.”

***

**Corey**

Undercover work had never been easy, not even for someone like Corey, who had been on multiple undercover missions. The only thing he liked about going undercover is that he found out where to get the information he wanted and from who. He knew the inner workings of different cartels and gangs and knew how to get someone talking.

As Corey walked down a narrow alleyway, he thought about what would happen if it was found to be a drug cartel or gang trying to get a message across. Political wars and such were never Corey’s favourite and he preferred to stay out of them as much as he could. The information that Liam had given them had removed those options, making it easier for Corey to breathe.

He had told his superiors that the case had nothing to do with gangs and they let out a sigh of relief. The FBI didn’t need to get involved in this case.

Corey knocked on a hidden door and waited for an answer.

“Name?” The slit at the top of the door opened and Corey caught a glimpse of the muzzle of a gun.

“Chameleon.” Corey answered. The door opened and he stepped in. Corey was hit with the smell of smoke, sex and sweat, not a pleasant combination in such a hot building.

“They said you would be coming. Usual room.” The doorman told him. Corey nodded and headed for where he usually met his confidential informant.

“Looks who back.” A voice on his left said as Corey walked through the corridor. “You keep taking a rain check on our date.”

“Lucas, you know I can’t. I’m in a relationship.” Corey laughed. The exotic dancer rolled his eyes and smiled.

“If things don’t work out, my offer still stands.” Lucas winked before heading back to his room. Corey headed up stairs to the one of the extra offices he knew weren’t in use. He knocked twice, then three times before opening the door.

“Chameleon, it’s been a while.” A handsome caramel skin toned man stood up and stretched out his hand.

“Berserker.” Corey shook it and they both sat down. Noah Patrick was Corey’s eyes and ears on the street, if anything happened, then he knew about it. In exchange, he got to be co-owner of an illegal club.

“You are lucky today. I put my good men out and got some news.” Noah offered Corey a glass of whiskey, but the police officer declined. He was still on the job.

“And…” Corey prompted.

“It’s not much, but we been hearing about some drugs being made and ordered in bulk. Big doses but always the same mount at regular intervals. Medical grade.” Noah told him. Corey thought back to what Theo had said about the drugs that the serial killers were using on the children. This seemed to be what they were looking for.

“Anything else?”

“Still looking to find out who, but that’s all was got for now.” Noah shrugged.

“It’s perfect, keep working and you might get a raise.” Corey joked. The other man shook his head but smiled. “I need that name soon. I’ll keep in touch.”

“I know. Everything that has been going on has been dampening the mood at the club. It’s bad for business.”

“Then get to work. I’ll show myself out.”

***

**Alec**

Transcribing the pictures onto the pages wasn’t that hard a job for Alec. It was something that anybody could do. What made it hard was the fact that he was pressed for time. Liam’s stress was a thick blanket, constantly reminding him that the clock was ticking. He had worked hard before with Nolan but now he knew that everything had just gotten personal.

Alec had chosen to go to the forensic labs to work and escape Liam’s stress. He didn’t mean to leave his boss alone, but he couldn’t work with all the pacing and muttering Liam was doing. In the labs, he could focus on his own work while Nolan did his own thing. It was calming and it allowed for Alec to actually get somewhere with the case.

He and Nolan had only managed to do ten out of the seventeen (now eighteen) victims in the time before Liam’s daughter went missing. This meant the Alec had even less time to finish the work on his own.

Alec picked up another pile of pictures and restarted the transcribing process. He tried to not let his thoughts wonder back to his own family’s case but was unsuccessful. Watching Liam fret about his daughter reminded Alec of how he had lost his own family.

Their murder occasionally haunted him in his sleep. Thoughts on how they had been killed and whether there had been a chance that he could have saved them always plagued him until he realized that no matter what he had done, they were still going to have died. His parents and older brother had done everything in their power to protect him and the only alternative outcome Alec could have reached was his own death.

Liam’s problem was different. If he didn’t work hard enough to find out who was behind this, he would lose his daughter. He had the choices in front of him and he had to make the right decisions or children would die.

“Coffee?” Nolan asked as he placed a mug in front of Alec.

“Thanks.” Alec picked it up and took a sip. It lacked enough sugar, but it was just what he needed. “Aren’t you supposed to be busy?”

“Waiting for the machine to finish with the results, so I thought I would get us some coffee before I helped transcribe.” Nolan shrugged as he sat down on the chair opposite Alec. The latter passed him a set of pictures and a note pad.

“I need all the help I can get.” Alec smiled at his new friend.

“Don’t we all.”

***

**Nolan**

The second Theo gave Nolan the samples he was supposed to process, he had gone to the lab and started working. He knew that they were pressed for time especially with more bodies turning up. Nolan already knew which tests he had to run. He wasn’t going to focus on proving himself to the team that he was good at the job. It was about proving to himself that he could help people and that he could do it right.

“Mind if I crash here? Liam is working up a sweat in the conference room.” Alec came in after Nolan put a vial in the centrifuge.

“Go ahead.” Nolan waved his hand towards an empty desk. Alec made himself comfortable as Nolan go back to work. He knew that Alec wouldn’t disturb him, not with how much work they still had to do.

Nolan got to documenting the different medications that the machine’s results had given him. He needed to create a comparison between the previous results from the other victims. As Nolan worked, he thought about his hometown that he had left behind. He thought about the gang that he used to be in and the people he used to beat up.

Nolan had been what his psychologist called a ‘misguided youth’. He thought that what he was doing was right, had believed it with his heart. Then he was told that he had to hurt someone on his own. Nolan had known that he wasn’t capable of hurting someone the way that they wanted him to. It took their initiation attempt for Nolan to realize that what they were doing was wrong.

He had left as soon as he could, not looking back at the world that he had once thought was right. From then on, Nolan had promised himself that he would do everything he could to help people, not hurt them like he used to. He knew he couldn’t take back the pain that he had caused other people, but he could make sure that he never did it again and stopped others from doing the same.

When the comparisons were complete, Nolan filed them away and went to go and get him and Alec coffee. They would need it if they were going to get any work done that night.

***

**Liam**

Liam knew that he was a mess. His nerves were frayed, his temper was short, and he wanted nothing more than to hold his daughter in his arms. But that wasn’t possible, not with her about to be the next child sacrifice for an insane cult.

He had gone through the pictures so often that he had them memorized. Even the new images from their new victim had been memorized. When he had first saw the body, he thought about Hayden. He thought about how if he didn’t decipher what was written on the victim’s bodies, then the next body he was going to be looking at would be Hayden’s. That thought was enough to make Liam even more stressed and panicky.

It took Alec’s leaving for Liam to notice that he wasn’t doing himself – or the people around him – any favors. He sat down on the table and took a breath in, compartmentalizing his emotions the same way he had done when he was younger. He didn’t need to feel, only to think.

When he was ready, Liam opened his eyes and looked at the pictures in front of him. Alec was still busy with transcribing the other pictures so he would have to work with what he had. Liam started with the symbols he knew where repeated. He wrote them down on the board and wrote how many times they appeared on and around the victims.

Then he wrote down the symbol’s meaning before moving to the next one. It took him a while but soon he had everything he needed to sort of get a picture of what was happening. Liam picked up the picture of the killers’ insignia. It was how they took credit for their work, so it would tell Liam and the group who they were.

Liam thought it was quite cocky of them to do things in such a bold way. From the kidnapping during broad daylight to leaving their symbol at the scene of the crime. It gave Liam the impression that they knew that they weren’t going to get punished, even if the public knew who they were and they were caught by the police.

Liam pulled apart the insignia, identifying the symbols that he knew and had seen before, until he found out what the insignia represented.

“I got it. I know their name.” Liam said to the room. He didn’t want to admit it, but it took Hayden’s kidnapping for the piece to come into place. With it, Liam would be able to understand the puzzle that was in front of him. “ _Vita et Mors Rarii Noxiorum_ , The Givers of Life and Death.”


	14. INTERLUDE TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update because I couldn't wait for you to read this chapter. I couldn't wait to write it so I hope you enjoy!  
> \- Chika

**Aged 0**

When Hayden was born Liam took the chance to name her. Gwen had been too out of it to properly give any input – not that she wanted to considering that she hadn’t even come up with a name _before_ Hayden was born– so Liam took the liberty of naming the beautiful baby in his arms. She looked quite similar to her mother with her dark hair and eyes. Liam could also see his own mother’s features in the baby, and it made him burst with pride.

“Mr. Dunbar, as much as you want to hold you daughter, we need to look over her. To make sure that she’s healthy.” The attending nurse told him. Liam looked at her before looking back the sleeping child in his arms.

“Don’t worry Hayden, Daddy isn’t going anywhere.” Liam said as he handed the child over to the lady. She smiled at him and took Hayden over to the side. Liam took the time to check on Gwen. “Hanging in there?”

“Could be better.” Gwen said, her voice coming out in gasps. She had clearly seen better days.

“Sleep then. The nurses have her and I’m still going to be here.” Liam told her.

“Since when are you so nice to me?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Since you gave birth to my daughter.” Liam sighed and rolled his eyes. “There is nothing wrong with me being civil, Gwen. We aren’t going to get back together but Hayden doesn’t need any animosity between us.”

“So, you named her Hayden?”

“Yes, Hayden Dunbar.” Liam told her.

“What do you mean Dunbar? We aren’t together so why should the child _I_ gave birth to have _your_ surname?” Liam could see that she was getting herself worked up.

“Because we discussed it Gwen. I pay for rehab and everything Hayden needs while you are away, and Hayden gets my surname.” Liam said slowly, keeping his irritation in check.

“But I don’t see any downside for you. You get to spend up to six months with her, with me out of the picture.”

“Do you think I have the money to send you to rehab?” Liam deadpanned. They had discussed this topic many times before. “You can take it or leave it, but you are not raising Hayden in that crack house you call a home. I don’t want any drugs near her.”

Gwen glared at Liam and Liam could see that he won the argument. He had told her that he didn’t mind taking her to court to get custody of Hayden. Gwen’s drug problem had been a running topic ever since Liam found her lying in a pool of her own vomit while they were still dating. He had done everything to keep her away from drugs but had failed. Liam hoped that Hayden would be the changing point that she needed.

***

**Aged 2**

Hayden had first gotten really sick when she was six months old. From then on, Liam had done everything in his power to make sure that it didn’t happen again. So, when he woke up in the middle of the night to a feverish Hayden, he panicked. He knew that it had nothing to do with her underdeveloped kidneys, but he didn’t want to take the chance.

It took him ten minutes to get his daughter to the hospital and five minutes to get her checked in. Liam had never been happier that he had placed Hayden on his medical aid as he watched the doctors look over his daughter.

“So, is it anything serious?” Liam asked as the doctor walked towards where he had been waiting outside the room. His daughter was sleeping – and sadly quite used to hospitals – so he didn’t have to worry about her crying for him. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to watch the doctors injecting his little angel.

“We will only keep her over night to monitor how she is doing but she is otherwise okay. I have filled out a prescription that won’t effect the medication that she is taking for her kidneys, so all she has to do is take them with her normal medication. She should be out by tomorrow afternoon.” The man smiled and left Liam alone.

Liam headed to the room that they had given his two-year-old, again curtesy of his medical aid, and sat on the side of her bed. She was still sleeping while being hooked up to a heart monitor and IV. It hurt Liam to see her like that, but he was glad that it was nothing major.

Liam sat on the chair next to the bed and took Hayden’s hand in his own. It looked so small compared to his, white skin against tan skin. Liam stroked her hand as he hummed a song his mother used to sing to him when he was younger. It took Liam less than ten minutes to fall asleep beside his daughter.

*

“Daddy.” A voice whispered into Liam’s ear. He was just about to turn to his other side before he remembered where his was. He lifted up his head and came face to face with his daughter’s permanently mischievous brown eyes.

“Hey Hayden. How are you feeling?” Liam asked, smoothing back her unruly hair. He was pretty sure that his hair wasn’t any better.

“’ungry.” She pouted. Liam checked the clock and found that it was eight in the morning. Even when sick, Hayden worked like clockwork. Liam had set up a routine with her, in order to get her used to taking her medication. It also helped him remember what he needed to do with her and when.

“Let me go and find a nurse and get you something, huh?” Liam smiled and stood up. He was about to leave the room when he remembered that her nappy needed to be changed. Liam was working on potty training her, but he didn’t expect much from her when she was still sick. “Let’s first get that nappy then we can get some food in your tummy.”

Liam was already a pro at changing nappies, thanks to his mom and two years of taking care of Hayden. He didn’t have her all the time but never forgot how to do it. He changed her quickly, using nappies from the nappy bag that he had brought with them. Liam also found Hayden’s hospital teddy bear, Nurse Abby, that lived in the bag. They had been to the hospital enough for it to be necessary – especially after the first time that Liam forgot Mr. Snuffles, her usual stuffed tiger.

“There we go.” Liam sat her up and kissed her cheek.

“Breakfast.” A nurse called as she opened the door. Hayden squealed and clapped her hands, clearly starving. Liam and the nurse smiled at her as the woman laid out breakfast for the both of them.

“Thank you.” Liam said.

“’ank you.” Hayden mimicked her father. The nurse smiled at the both of them before leaving.

“Good job remembering your manners, Hade.” Liam kissed her forehead and sat down that they could eat.

***

**Aged 4**

Liam normally worked hard to keep his anger in check, He trained in his personal gym, went for a run until he couldn’t feel his legs, or just took the time to focus on anything else but his anger. So, when he punched a man in the grocery store for shouting at Hayden, he was more shocked than the other patrons in the store.

“Let’s go, Hade.” Liam said as he lifted his daughter out of the shopping cart. They could go to another store if they wanted groceries.

“Daddy, why did you hit that man?” Hayden asked as he buckled her into her car seat.

“Because he shouted at you for something stupid. It’s not like you threw the apple at him on purpose.” Liam answered her.

“But you said that I should never hit anyone, no matter what.” She countered. She had gotten arguing from her mother, might to Liam’s chagrin, but it was better than his IED.

“I know, baby.” Liam sighed and took her small hands in his. “You see, daddy is sick. Sometimes he gets very very angry and he can’t stop it and ends up hurting people, but he tries _really_ hard so that he doesn’t hurt people.”

“Does daddy have medicine like me?” Hayden asked looking at him with wide eyes.

“I used to, but then I got better and now I don’t really need them. Sometimes though, like with that man, I get really angry and do something stupid.” Liam explained. He saw no use in keeping it from her, especially when Gwen could spin the story into something different.

“Is there a way for me to help you?” Hayden asked. Liam felt his heart melting.

“When it looks like daddy’s really angry, then it’s best to stay away from me for a bit. I will never hurt you, but I don’t want to take that chance.” Liam kissed each of her hands. “Come, we still have to find a store where we can buy groceries.”

*

The next time Liam had an IED episode was at Hayden’s fifth birthday party. The people he had gotten to make her cake had gotten her age and the spelling of her name wrong and Liam was already stressed from the planning of the rest of his daughter’s party. Liam grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt and roughly jerked him forward.

“Liam, honey, please don’t do anything rash.” Jenna, Liam’s mother told him. They were having the party at his parents’ house because he didn’t have the garden for a jumping castle. Or space to host ten kids.

Liam’s was just about to tell her to stay out of it when he felt someone collide with his leg. He looked down and found Hayden staring up at him. He let go of the man when he saw that her big brown eyes where filled with nothing but trust. She wasn’t afraid of him even as he held another man by his shirt.

Liam bent down and picked up his daughter, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“Cool down time for daddy?” Hayden asked him, referring to what he called the time after her own tantrums. Liam smiled and nodded.

“Cool down time for daddy. Granma will finish up with the party.” Liam said as he looked in the direction of his mother. She was smiling and seemed to have tears in her eyes. Before Liam could ask, Jenna shoved him out of the house and to the backyard, promises of fixing the cake mess written on her face. “What should daddy to do to cool down?”

“Jumping!” Hayden shouted and clapped her hands. Liam laughed but walked towards the already set up jumping castle. He put Hayden down and the two of them took off their shoes. Then Hayden dragged him on to the jumping castle. “Jump very high daddy.”

“I’m jumping. I’m jumping.” Liam laughed. Hayden squealed as his jumping sent her into the air. Liam was careful to not hurt her, making sure that he didn’t jump too hard or too close to her. When David announced that the guests had arrived, Liam and Hayden got off the plastic contraption and went to greet their friends.

“She really brings out the best in you.” Jenna said when she brought out the fixed birthday cake much later on. She had covered the mistake with more icing and rewrote it correctly. Liam would always be grateful for how much David and Jenna had helped him with raising Hayden.

“You think so?” Liam smiled as he watched Hayden happily chat to her friends about how her Granma had fixed her cake and now it was even ‘more beautifuller’.

“I know so.” Jenna patted Liam’s shoulder. “Okay, kids. Let’s sing happy birthday to Hayden.”

Liam sang the loudest as everyone serenaded his daughter with the happy birthday song. He was glad that she was happy enough to forget that her mother had failed to show up.

***

**Aged 5**

When Hayden had first learnt how to read, she buried her nose in Liam’s Ancient History textbooks. She preferred it when he read her stories on Greek or Roman mythology as a bedtime story than stories about Minnie or Micky Mouse. Hayden’s favorite story had been Pandora’s box. Gwen had been annoyed by her fixation it history, but Liam simply played it off as her being smarter than everyone else her age, that had gotten his ex-girlfriend to back off.

Liam had also made sure that she didn’t read about the gruesome parts of history and mythology, wanting to keep her innocent for as long as he could. Though it didn’t stop her from stealing his teaching materials and looking over them herself.

“Daddy, look it’s like my name.” Hayden pointed to a word on his printed PowerPoint slides. Liam stopped scrolling through his phone and looked at what she was pointing at.

“That Hades, honey. It looks like your name but it’s the name for Zeus and Poseidon’s brother.” Liam smiled. He had figured that her love for Greek mythology was the same as other kids’ love for dinosaurs. She even had the names down to a T.

“But I can’t have the same name as ‘seidon’s brother.” Well almost.

“You don’t. You are Hayden, with the nickname Hade. And he’s Hay-dees.” Liam explained, emphasizing the difference.

“I want to be Hades.” She told him excitedly.

“You want to be Poseidon’s brother?” Liam teased, poking her cheek.

“No, silly. I want my name to be Hades.” Hayden laughed, gently swatting at Liam’s hand.

“Fine, I’ll call you Hades.” Liam agreed. Six months later and he was still calling her Hades and nothing else.

***

Jenna had never seen someone as similar to Liam as Hayden was. It was more than her interest in ancient history or the fact that she seemed to have taken a liking to lacrosse, a sport her dad had played when he was still in high school. The likeness was startling, even to the point that David had been secretly calling Hayden mini-Liam.

“Morning Mom.” Liam said as he walked into the kitchen the morning after they had slept over for the night. The person who had lived in the apartment above Liam had burst their pipe and it effected Liam’s piping as well, causing their toilet to spit out water everywhere.

“Morning, Gram.” Hayden greeted as she walked in behind Liam. The two of them looked exactly the same with their messy hair, blue pajama pants and white t-shirt and their sleepy looks. Even the tone which they greeted Jenna with was the same.

“Morning. What do two of my favorite people want for breakfast?” She asked them as she stood up and headed to the fridge.

“Pancakes.” Hayden answered immediately. Jenna smiled as that had been Liam’s favorite food when he was Hayden’s age. It still was.

“With chocolate chips and blueberries.” Liam added.

“And apple juice, please.” Hayden finished their order. Jenna wondered if they even noticed that they were practically in sync.

“Chocolate chip pancakes with blueberries and apple juice coming right up.” Jenna said in her most professional chef sounding voice. Hayden laughed while Liam smiled.

“Morning, my loved ones.” David said as he stepped into the office. He was already dressed for work, meaning he wasn’t going to sit with them and eat.

“Morning.” Liam and Hayden answered at the same time. David gave Jenna a knowing glance.

“Looks like you will be eating breakfast without me. I wish I could have some.” David fake sighed as he placed a kiss on Jenna’s cheek.

“You could have woken up earlier.” Liam joked.

“Daddy says that the early bird gets the worm.” Hayden pointed out.

“Your dad is almost never early for anything.” David countered.

“I’m always on time for breakfast.” Liam argued back.

“Because breakfast is the most delicious meal of the day.” Hayden lifted her hands up in excitement as Jenna placed a pancake on a plate.

“And the most…” Liam prompted as he looked at his daughter, smiling.

“Important.” Hayden smiled back.

“Good girl. You deserve more syrup.” Liam ruffled Hayden’s already messy hair.

“No!” Jenna and David shouted. They knew how off the walls the child got when he was high on sugar. That was another thing that the two had in common. If Hayden ate more sugar then Liam ate more sugar, then the two would drive everybody else up the walls with their energy. As a doctor, David didn’t even know adults could go on a sugar high, but he had discovered it the hard way with Liam and Hayden.

“Maybe even a little bit?” Liam asked his parents.

“No.” Jenna shook her head.

“Not even a teensy bit more?” Hayden mimicked her dad.

“Not until you are back in your own apartment.” David added.

Liam and Hayden pouted but still poured a moderate amount of syrup when their pancakes arrived. And by moderate, it meant that they would add half of what they normally put when they were on their own.

Jenna then had to spend the next two days with an over hyper father and daughter duo who never learnt their lesson from the days before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter could be coming out on Wednesday because I have two semester test on the days before and two assignments.


	15. CHAPTER ELEVEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason it was so hard to write this chapter. But anyway, I have two and a half chapters left to write, the rest are already done.  
> -Chika

“Let’s call it a night people.” Stiles said as he walked into the conference room with Scott. Alec and Liam, who were huddled in front of the white board, turned around in fright. Mason, who was searching through some case boxes, dropped a box, luckily not spilling any papers.

“It smells like sweat and piss in here.” Scott said as he headed over to open the windows. “When was the last time you guys slept?”

“We’ve been busy.” Mason shrugged. That gave Scott and Stiles the answer they needed.

“Mason, you should know better.” Stiles pointe a finger at the detective. “No matter how much you want to catch this guy, you need sleep.”

“Hayden been missing for three days already, there isn’t time to sleep.” Liam argued.

“When you can’t find her because of _one_ sleep deprived mistake, it’s going to be on you.” Scott said bluntly. Everyone saw Liam flinch.

“Come, it’s two in the morning, I’ve already sent Nolan and Theo home. Corey is waiting downstairs for you, Mason.” Stiles told them. “Alec get some shut eye before you collapse, Corey offered to drop you off. And Liam, take a moment to breathe before you tackle this case. Stupid mistakes that could be avoided might cost you.”

Liam’s face went through various emotions before he gave in. He knew that mistakes happened a lot when someone was running on as little sleep as he was. Working himself to the bone wasn’t going to help Hayden.

“Fine, let’s go.” Liam put down the marker he was holding on to the table and went to grab his coat. Scott and Stiles mentally high fived each other as they guided the room’s occupants down to the garage. As promised, Corey was waiting to take Alec and Mason home. The FBI agent ushered the two worn out people into his car before driving away.

Scott took Liam home while Stiles followed with the younger man’s car. Liam barely remembered them dropping him off on his bed before he was out cold.

*

As much as Liam wanted to get back to the precinct and continue his research, he knew that he had to unwind and clear his head. So instead of locking himself in his personal gym, he packed a gym bag and grabbed his car keys. He stopped outside the Hale gym and got out.

“Liam, I didn’t think I would be seeing you here.” Kira said as he came through the front door. “You know, with everything happening…”

“Scott and Stiles said I need to take some time to breathe.” Liam shrugged. “Is Malia in for some kickboxing or a little sparring?”

“She’ll be free in two hours, but you can spar with me?” She offered, an apologetic smile on her face. Liam nodded and followed her deeper into the gym. He got himself set up in a temporary locker, then went out to meet Kira. They got to stretching before they wrapped their hands and prepared to spar.

“How hard should I go?” Kira asked as they walked on to the mat.

“Hard enough that I focus.” Liam told her, making her wince. They had sparred many times before over the years. Liam would come to the gym to release pent up frustration and Kira and Malia would help him learn how to control his anger in a fight. Liam trusted them because he knew that Malia and Kira once had the same problem.

Malia had been raised in a house where each day was a literal fight for survival. When Liam had first met her, she had been defensive and was ready to fight anyone at a moment’s notice. Violence was her go to problem solver. Now she was teaching self-defense and kickboxing classes to people of all ages.

Kira, on the other hand, never saw violence as her go to option. She had always spoken about control and proper fighting techniques. It had been a shock to most people when she almost beat an opponent to a pulp during a match. Then everyone learned that while she avoided fights, it was not because she found fighting unnecessary, but because once she started fighting it was hard to stop her. She had let the fire inside her consume everything she did until she almost killed people.

The matches that Liam had with them helped him cool off and were always in a controlled environment. They never forced him to lose control or to try and keep it, they only encouraged him to find another outlet.

And they never let him get to the point where he hurt himself.

“Breathe, Liam.” Kira said before she took a step towards him.

*

“Time out.” Liam gasped before Kira let him out of her choke hold. She let go and he rolled away, trying to catch a break.

“Did I go too hard?” She asked as she passed him a bottle of water. Their sparring sessions tested both their boundaries. It was about seeing if Kira could stop herself if her opponent wasn’t ready to continue – Liam knew how to incapacitate her if it ever got to that point – and if Liam could use other emotions besides anger during a fight.

“No, I’m just tired.” Liam took the bottle and sat up. “Haven’t slept properly in three days after all.”

“I’m glad that you know your boundaries.” Kira smiled ad sat down next to him.

“Does that mean I won’t get to beat you up in the ring?” Malia asked as she walked into the room. She had a towel around her neck and Liam could she that she had just finished with her shower.

“You just finished showering, don’t act like you were planning on beating me up today.” Liam told her.

“I never break a sweat when I beat you up.” Malia countered. Kira laughed.

“That was before, now even while I’m tired we’re evenly matched.” Liam smirked. They all knew that he was joking, Malia and Kira were the best fighters the gym had.

“Really now?” Malia took a step closer to them.

“Yep.” Liam said firmly. Malia walked towards them with purpose and aimed a kick at Liam’s chest. Liam rolled out of the way just in time and got to his feet. “Looks like someone is getting slow.”

“Please, I just needed a reason to get you away from my girlfriend.” Malia rolled her eyes, trying to fight the grin that was threatening to break out on her face.

“If you say so.” Liam smiled. Malia sat down next to Kira and Liam went over to lay his head on her lap. He felt Kira’s hands running through his hair. They had sat like this on the many nights that Liam was struggling with his emotions. It mainly happened when Hayden was sick and Liam couldn’t do anything to help make things easier for her.

Kira and Malia would come over to keep them company, comforting Liam when Hayden was asleep. Scott and Stiles were Liam’s pillars but Malia and Kira where his emotional support – with Lydia being his mental crutch.

“I don’t think I can get her back.” Liam said after thirty minutes of silent hair stroking. They always waited for him to speak first, never pushing him if he didn’t want.

“Why do you think that?” Kira asked.

“There’s just so much I don’t understand about this case. Some of the missing information is going to come from what I find out, but what if I don’t find it in time?” Liam opened his eyes and looked up at them. “Stiles and Scott told me that one mistake might cost me my daughter.”

“I’m sure they didn’t mean it like that.” Malia said softly. Liam had a tendency of remembering things out of context, changing the entire meaning of what had been said.

“I know that they meant that if I don’t sleep, I might make mistakes. But I just can’t stop _thinking_ , that what if I mess up anyway.” Liam stressed as he ran one hand over his face.

“Then why don’t you do what you usually do, create a schedule.” Malia suggested.

“You and Hayden always worked better with a schedule to follow.” Kira pointed out. “Set a waking time and a sleeping time. Then put breaks in between. It won’t be easy, and it won’t help you find the answers right away, but it’ll keep your head clear.”

“And if that doesn’t work then just come over. We’ll beat some sense into you.” Malia shrugged making Kira and Liam laugh.

“Let’s go and get you some lunch.” Kira said when Liam’s stomach grumbled.

“You’re paying.” Liam told them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know when the next chap is coming out, it could be next week or this weekend...


	16. CHAPTER TWELVE

“Okay, team bonding session.” Mason said as he and Theo physically dragged Liam out of the precinct and into someone’s car. He was sitting behind the passenger seat with Theo sitting next to him, Corey driving and Mason next to him.

“But–” Liam tried to protest.

“No, I don’t want to hear about your schedule that you have to follow. I’m not sure it’s helped or not.” Mason held up a hand and stopped Liam from saying anything more. “You are sticking to that schedule so much that it’s scary.”

“At least he’s getting sleep.” Theo shrugged and Mason fired him such a fierce glare that he shut up.

“So, Mason and I decide to have a team relaxing session. We all need to breathe anyway.” Corey continued. Liam sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing, they had already left the precinct anyway.

They ended up at what turned out to be Mason and Corey’s house. The couple had already bought food and drinks and set them up in the living room. They all sat down on the sofas and took a minute to breathe. Theo threw his coat over the back on his chair and kicked off his shoes. Corey and Mason did the same but also threw off their socks. Liam only took off his coat because he was already dressed in comfortable clothes and shoes.

“Why does Hayden stay with Gwen?” Theo asked as they dug into the Chinese takeaway that Corey ordered.

“I have IED, so Gwen said that it was too dangerous for Hayden to stay with me.” Liam explained. He had talked about his IED so often that it wasn’t a problem opening up about it anymore.

“But she still comes to stay with you?” Corey asked, clearly confused.

“Well timed blackmail and carefully chosen words is what got us to our current point.” Liam said. “It also helps that Hayden is sick, so Gwen tries to push her off as much as possible while still being in control.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Mason rolled his eyes.

“Hayden’s sick? Isn’t it dangerous for her to be with people who don’t know that she’s sick?” Corey asked, a little worried.

“She does have a few dietary requirements, but they aren’t hectic. My mother learnt how to make pancakes that were okay for her to eat. I’d never seen Hayden so happy. Other than that, she doesn’t take medication anymore though, only on days where she is feeling really bad.” Liam answered, trying not to think about his daughter’s health.

“I think she’ll be fine.” Theo said from where he was sitting on the floor. The group looked at him with questioning glances. “Two reasons. One, they have a doctor within their group, the medications that they administer, the way that they kill, it all says that they have someone with medical capabilities. Two, they follow a strict routine or ritual if you will, they don’t want her to die, not yet anyway. And it would be disappointing for them if she died from natural causes.”

“Why is that strangely comforting?” Liam muttered, picking up his beer and taking a sip. “It reminds me of when Hayden was born. The only reason that Gwen left Hayden in my care was because she was sick. She wasn’t interested in dealing with a child who seemed like she would die any second.”

“The more you talk about her the more I dislike her.” Theo muttered.

“It’s not that she’s the greatest parent.” Liam sighed. “But she does try. She follows the routines I set up for Hayden. She doesn’t do any of her drugs and shit near Hayden. She generally acts like a mother on the days that count.”

“Is that why you let her keep Hayden half of the time?” Corey asked. “Because she is a good mother when it matters.”

“I don’t have any reason to fight for full custody, though that might change after this case.” Liam said thoughtfully.

“Why, because Hayden was kidnapped while with Gwen?” Mason asked.

“No, because Hayden _will_ come back traumatized and Gwen won’t want to deal with her.” Liam smiled sadly. The group was silent as they processed the information. Neither of them thought that Gwen was a good mother.

“Why is this case helping you get custody of your daughter?” Corey wondered.

“Apparently this was the only way, this and a drug charge.” Liam mused.

“If you wanted a drug charge, I could have planted drugs at her place then staged a raid. It would send her away for a bit then you gain full custody.” Corey suggested, making Liam laugh.

“I wish I met you earlier then. You would love Hayden. She loves the nickname Hades, thinking that it makes her the god of the underworld.” Liam chuckled as he thought of his daughter.

“She’s pretty smart.” Mason commented, reaching for another beer. Theo also reached for one, opening it using his teeth. Mason gave him a weird look as he opened his own with a bottle opener.

“She is. She also has a love for history. Or maybe it’s just a phase where she follows everything I do.” Liam said with pride and mild amusement.

“I wonder if she could solve this case. Just put the pieces together like a puzzle.” Theo said. He uncrossed his legs and let them stretch out under the table. Liam noted how long his legs were.

“On the note of puzzles, I found out who we are fighting against.” Liam said he reached for a fortune cookie. He opened it and grimaced at the content. _Life is just a knock away_.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Mason asked, throwing his napkin at Liam’s head.

“I never found the time.” Liam shrugged sheepishly.

“Tell us what you found then.” Corey prompted, stopping Mason from arguing with Liam.

“They are called Vita et Mors Rarii Noxiorum, it means Givers of Life and Death. They gave life to their kids and now they are giving them death.” Liam started. He got the napkin that Mason had thrown and a pen and started drawing the sigil that was on Gwen’s car. “This symbol here means give, and the infinity is a variation of life and death. The symbols on the side are for Saturn.”

“What does Saturn have to do with anything?” Theo asked.

“It’s for Cronus, one is Greek and the other roman but have the same story. But his link is that his kids killed him and threw him into the depths of Tartus.” Liam explained.

“But the victims never killed their parents.” Corey said, confused.

“ _But_ Cronus _did_ kill his kids first. He killed them before they killed him.” Mason said excitedly.

“Yes. The other markings on the bodies are just a list of punishments and sins that the child committed.” Liam summarized.

“Their sins?” Corey repeated.

“Hayden’s sin was arguing with her mother when they kidnapped her.” Mason said, the pieces coming together. “In their minds, she sinned and needed to be punished.”

“Let me get this straight, this cult, Givers of life and death, are punishing kids for sinning and believe that they should kill their child before their children kill them?” Corey asked, his mind trying to process everything.

“The only problem is the fact that Cronus was cursed because his father ate him and his siblings. Then he staged an uprising and killed his father. The same thing that happened to his father happened to him.” Liam tapped the pen against the armrest of the chair.

“We went through all that to find out that the people we are chasing is a cult who believe in killing kids for their ‘sins’.” Mason rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch. Corey pulled his feet on to his lap and started massaging them.

“I think we are dealing with rich cult goers though.” Corey started. “I was talking to a contact of mine and they found out that medical grade medicine was being trafficked at the same time every week and in the same quantities.”

“I’d have to check if any doctors I know, know about it.” Theo mused. “Anything medical grade had to be made some where and if they are disappearing at the same time in the same quantities then it means that it could be found out by anybody who wants to look.”

“I think I’m going to take a look at the victims. Something Gwen said stuck with me.” Mason said.

“What did she say?” Liam asked, curious.

“She was complaining about her car being painted on. In some of the previous case that symbol appeared but not in most. Some of the kids haven’t even been reported missing.” Mason elaborated.

“You think that the cult members might be related to the missing kids.” Theo said, seeing where Mason’s thinking was going.

“It doesn’t make sense to make a cult about killing children if you don’t have any of your own. They are probably related to kids in some way if they don’t have any.” Mason confirmed his thinking.

“So, we are looking for affluent people, with kids or that have some sort of affiliation with kids and have had those kids go missing without it following the usual pattern.” Corey put everything together.

“We’ve just profiled our cult members. Now let’s go and catch them.” Mason smiled, raising his bottle for a toast.


	17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Mason walked into the conference room and found it a mess. The lights were on despite it being ten in the morning and there were pictures on the windows and walls.

“You don’t even look like you are still drunk.” Mason said to Liam who was standing on a chair facing the backwall.

“Hahaha.” Liam turned around and rolled his eyes before turning back to the pictures. “Check this out.”

“What am I looking at?” Mason asked as he walked over. He had seen the crime scene photos so often that he was sure that he knew the symbols as well as Liam did.

“These symbols match the ones from this crime scene.” Liam said, pointing to two different crime scenes.

“Well they do group sacrifices, isn’t that inevitable?” Mason asked, confused.

“That’s what I thought. But the more I looked at it the more I realized that that wasn’t the case. The victims don’t have any matching mistakes when it comes to the symbols, meaning that different people wrote them.” Liam placed a hand on Mason’s shoulder and jumped off the chair. “But the one’s who have similar mistakes are related. I had Nolan check to see if they were siblings or relatives and came up with matches. Then I came to the conclusion that each member kills their own child or children.”

“We found that out already.” Mason told him, really wondered if Liam was still drunk.

“Yes, we did, but this means that we have a link to the culprits sitting in the morgue. Most if not all of the children have matching DNA to their killers.” Liam pointed out. Mason froze, surprised that the thought never came to mind before. “Come, Theo said Nolan had more for us.”

Liam pulled Mason out of the conference room and into the elevator. They rode it to the floor that the forensic labs were on. Nolan was already waiting for them.

“You’re here.” Nolan said as he got off the table he was sitting on. He reached for a folder and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “I was listening to Dr Raeken talk about how two of the victims were related to each other then how the cult members had to have kids or be close to kids in order to join the cult. Then a thought came to me: Some rich people also have criminal records, and if they have records then they should be in CODIS. So, I checked and voila.”

Nolan handed the papers to Liam and Mason. They looked through them together.

“Isn’t that the owner of Painters Paint?” Liam asked as he pointed at one of the pages. Mason looked closer at the picture. It was the owner, albeit a little younger.

“And the CEO and co-founder of Argent & Hunter Inc.” Mason said. Everyone knew that Argent & Hunter was the best law firm in the country. They held a lot of power and were quite good at what they did. “This is going to make this harder.”

“I didn’t know that he had a kid.” Liam said.

“He has a son, daughter-in-law and a granddaughter. His granddaughter is the victim. There was a whole news report on her death and disappearance.” Nolan said. “He even made a statement about sending the culprits to jail for the rest of their lives.”

“Probably just for show. If he can kill his own granddaughter, then who knows what else he can do?” Liam said.

“What about his son and daughter-in-law?” Mason asked.

“I don’t know that much. They never appeared in the news.” Nolan shrugged.

“This is good, Nolan. Well done.” Mason clapped him on the back. Nolan smiled.

“Where are you going?” Liam asked as Mason walked out of the labs.

“To find out more about our victims’ parents.” Mason shouted as he waved the papers.

***

Corey didn’t even bother knocking on the door to Noah’s room. He simply walked in and sat himself down on his usual chair.

“Talk. I hear you found the supplier.” He said to the startled man.

“What if I was naked? Or having sex?” The club owner asked him.

“You’re not an exhibitionist. I’m not worried about seeing you naked.” Corey rolled his eyes. “Give me my answers or we might just raid your club.”

“Fine, fine. I can really do without the threats.” Noah sighed and handed Corey a stack of pictures. “We found them while they were making a transaction. Can’t tell who the clients are but you can see the dealer. Never heard of them before and I don’t know where they are getting their supply from but he’s who’s been giving out those medical grade drugs.”

“And where were these taken?” Corey asked as he flipped through the pictures. Noah handed him a piece of paper. There were two addresses written on it.

“First one is where the pictures where taken, second one is where the guy is holed up.”

“Looks like you out did yourself.” Corey said, clearly impressed. He gave Noah a sticky note with numbers on it. “In exchange for your hard work.”

“I’ll work harder in the future.” Noah smiled and took the paper.

“Now find me the client.” Corey shouted as he left the room.

***

Corey stopped his car outside the precinct and Theo got in.

“Where to first?” Corey asked as they drove away.

“Lowe Pharmaceuticals.” Theo said, looking at the papers in his hand. The two of them were going to check on the companies that could have been supplying the dealer that Noah had found. He had made a list of every company and hospital that could have been supplying the drugs and narrowed them down to the places who had all the required drugs in stock.

“So, how are we going to do this? We don’t have a warrant and asking around like police officers might get us caught. We still don’t know who’s in the cult.” Corey said as he turned left.

“I have a friend who works there. We’ll talk to him and have him look at their stock intake. I called favors at the other places and managed to get us meetings with the right people.” Theo smiled proudly.

“Learning the way of the negotiator I see.” Corey smiled and shook his head.

“It’s a delicate case so I have to bring out all my tricks.” Theo shrugged.

“All your tricks? From where?” If Corey was trying to hide his curiosity, then he hid it poorly.

“When I was younger, the people I lived with forced me to trick people into giving me what I wanted.” Theo said carefully.

“Pickpocketing?” Corey asked, confused. Theo laughed.

“Is stealing organs considering pickpocketing?” Theo could see the shock on Corey’s face. “And pickpocketing doesn’t even fit in with the description I gave.”

“Sorry, that was the first thing that came to mind. You could have described it better though.” Corey tried to defend himself.

“You might want to work on your brain to mouth filter then. How are you one of the best undercover agents?” Theo teased, glad that Corey wasn’t focusing on his past.

“When I’m in the field my brain seems to work differently.” Corey huffed, a soft smile on his lips.

“Well switch your undercover brain on, Lowe Pharmaceuticals is just after the next turn.”

*

Theo was tired. He didn’t know how police officers did it. He and Corey were halfway down the list and none of them had what they were looking for. They had one more place to go before they called it a day and carried on tomorrow.

“The Chemist. I can’t believe they got away with such a cliché name.” Corey said as he parked outside the towering office building. They both got out of the car and walked in.

“Hello, welcome to The Chemist Corporation. How may I help you?” The receptionist said.

“We are here to see Donovan Donati. We have an appointment.” Theo smiled at her. She blushed as she typed away at her computer. Theo heard Corey snort as he looked around the building.

“Well he is on the fifth floor, nineth office. He had been informed of your arrival and is waiting for you.” She told them.

“Thank you.” Both Theo and Corey said as they smiled at her, visibly increasing her blush as she didn’t know who to look at. They took the elevator to the given floor and found Donovan waiting for them like she had said.

“Raeken, fancy seeing you again.” The man held out a hand and Theo shook it.

“Donovan, this is Corey. Corey this is the person who’s going to help us find what we are looking for.” Theo introduced them. They shook hands before Donovan led them to his office.

“So, I was looking through what you asked me about. Thanks to my job nobody questions me when I do random checks.” Donovan started explaining. “I think I found what you were looking for. I got it right here.”

“Are you sure?” Corey asked as Donovan handed him a thick folder.

“Checked and rechecked. All of the orders fall under the big boss’ name, so nobody really focuses on them. It’s his company, his stock.” Donovan shrugged. “Took me a while to properly trace everything. It seems that one part of the stock is automatically put aside for him. From every aspect, it looks legal.”

“Thank you, Don.” Theo shook his hand again.

“Really, thank you.” Corey also shook his hand. “Just stay out of this from now on.”

“Will do. Glad I could help.” Donovan said as they left.

“Do you think he’s part of the cult?” Corey asked as they got back into the car.

“Who Donovan?”

“No, the CEO.”

“Not even. A slime bag like him loves to get in on the action but only for the money.” Theo laughed.

“You sound like you know him.” Corey laughed along.

“Let me just say that we bumped into each other once before. Not a pleasant experience.” Theo grimace and shook his head.


	18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already done writing the entire story but I feel like I shouldn't spoil you too much. So here you go, three chapters but not the ones that count the most. I'm actually proud of the way this chapter turned out.  
> -Chika

“Dt Hewitt.” Harry called as Mason walked into the precinct.

“Yes?” Mason turned as smiled at the man.

“Someone left a message for you.” Harry handed him a piece of paper. Mason looked at it and nearly dropped his coffee.

“Did you know who left it?” Mason asked him.

“No, but I think I was some homeless man. He dropped it off and left, only told me to give it to you.” Harry told him, getting nervous. “Is there anything wrong?”

“No. No, nothing’s wrong. Thank you, Harry.” Mason smiled and headed for the elevator. When he entered the conference room Theo was busy playing checkers with Alec and Nolan, while Corey was busy doodling. “You are quite chilled. Did you solve the case yet?”

“No, we are taking a break since our brains are almost fried.” Corey said, not looking up. “We haven’t found a lead so we were hoping Noah might have something. Waiting for him to call seems like the only thing we can do.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Mason said as he placed the paper onto the table. They crowded around the paper.

“Is this what I think it is?” Corey asked.

“Yep. The address for where the ritual is going to take place. Time and date included.” Mason told them.

“How did you get it? Where did you get it?” Nolan asked, staring at the piece of paper like it held the answers to every problem in the world. It didn’t, but it came close.

“Some one left it as a tip. They left it with Harry.” Mason explained.

“How do we know that it’s valid?” Theo asked as Corey was turning the paper over and looking at it from different angles.

“Some time last year, Gerard and I got into a legal battle. He was prosecuting my superior and was the one to write up the lawsuit and hand deliver it to us. I saw his handwriting then. I won’t forget the way he curled his letters.” Mason tapped the note. “Not only is this written on Argent & Hunter stationery, it’s also in his handwriting. What are the chances that this would have ended up here?”

“I want to test it first.” Theo said. He put on a surgical glove that he got from his pocket and picked up the note. “We have to be 110% sure that he wrote this. Come Nolan, we have work.”

“Coming.” Nolan followed Theo.

“Where’s Liam?” Mason asked, noticing that the professor was missing.

“He said he wasn’t felling well so he went home.” Alec said. “I think he was also going to do some schoolwork. He’s been behind and Dean McCall warned him about losing his job.”

“I hope he’s okay. We are so close to bringing his back his daughter and he’s already getting sick.” Mason said, slightly worried.

“At least he held out for this long. He’s been living such a hectic life especially with Hayden missing. I’m surprised he didn’t collapse before.” Corey commented.

*

“So, can you do it or not?” Liam asked the man that was sitting in front of him.

“What do I get out of it? Last I checked I was going to prison either way.” The man grunted. The flashing lights of the club would have made him look scary if Liam hadn’t fought against Malia and Kira. He was sure that they both could take him down with out breaking a sweat, no matter how big he was.

“Not if there isn’t much evidence against you. The right words from the right people could get you a lighter sentence.” Liam shrugged, pushing the list closer to him. “And I know the right people.”

“I know the right people too.” The man countered.

“Not for long. With or without you, I’m going to do what I want to do, and you are going to end up in prison. So, you can choose to help me and have a credible source to lighten your sentence or not help me and go to prison for the rest of your life, along with your right people.” Liam leaned back in his seat. He casually took a sip of his drink. It was hot in the club. “I hear that you aren’t from this country, it would be a shame if you and your family got deported. Your daughter already seems to be flourishing in school. You’ll obviously be sent to an American prison, since you are the only one with a green card, but what about your daughter and wife?”

“Are you threatening my family?” The man said through gritted teeth. Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. In it was a picture of him and Hayden. They were both wearing matching t-shirts and hats as they smiled their biggest smiles, Hayden showing off her missing teeth.

“They have her. This cult has her and I need your help getting her back.” Liam smiled as he looked at the picture, before showing it to the man. “This is my family. Like you would do anything for your family, so would I. So, are you going to help me or not?”

*

“What you are asking can get me arrested.” The lady shouted. Liam sat across from her, patiently waiting for her to calm down. She glared at him but sat down.

“You are already going to go to prison.” Liam shrugged.

“You never even told me how you got my name or number.” She muttered.

“Do you want me to give my source away? Will it make you feel better?” Liam asked. “I thought in your line of work people kept their mouths shut.”

“Clearly someone didn’t.” She snarked.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you their name if you give me what I want.” Liam offered, already knowing that she wouldn’t take the deal.

“That doesn’t even add up.” She complained, her voice raising slightly.

“Then why won’t you take it for the money I’m giving you?”

“Because it’s illegal to create something like that.” She stressed.

“Have you made anything that _isn’t_ illegal?” Liam countered. That shut her up. “So, what wrong with this?”

“It kills people.” She whispered, looking around the dinner to see if anyone heard her.

“No, it doesn’t. It releases sleeping gas.” Liam rolled his eyes. “Stop making assumptions.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fine. I want to use it in a bank robbery. We slip it in, make everyone fall asleep then steal the money. Machine disappears with the robbers and no one is the wiser.” Liam leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “Nobody dies and we can walk away with millions. And if it doesn’t work properly, you go to prison with us.”

“Even if I had nothing to do with it?” She squeaked.

“I told you about the robbery and you didn’t stop me.” Liam shrugged. “And you made the device knowing what it was being used for.”

“Is that supposed to make me _want_ to help you?”

“No, this is.” Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. The girl gasped and flipped the picture over.

“Is that…?” She looked at Liam with shock written on her face and laced in her tone.

“Now you see why I need your help.” Liam smiled grimly. She nodded her head. “Thank you. I need it in two days.”

***

“Liam, where have you been?” Theo asked as they crossed paths. Liam was entering the precinct while Theo was leaving. Theo hadn’t seen Liam since the day before Mason came in with the tip.

“Out of it. Turns out I ate something I shouldn’t have.” Liam grimaced, as if remembering something unpleasant.

“Well, while you were sitting on the toilet, we got a lead.” Theo walked with Liam towards the elevator.

“What was the lead?” Liam asked when they were alone in the elevator.

“Where the cult might be hiding out. Mason is planning a raid two days from now.” Theo told him. He saw multiple emotions cross Liam’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“We are finally so close to catching them and getting Hayden back.” Liam said. Theo could detect anger in his tone.

“But you’re angry about it?”

“No, I’m happy, don’t get me wrong I can’t wait until I have Hayden back in my arms.” Liam said quickly. “I’m angry that they are probably just going to walk away after all this. Maybe five of them will go to prison while the rest walk free. Money is a powerful tool.”

“Well you solved the case and are getting your daughter back. There’s nothing more that you can do.” Theo reminded him.

“I just wish I could hurt the people that hurt her.” Liam stared at the elevator doors with such anger that Theo was shocked that they didn’t just melt away.

“You mean kill them.” Theo deadpanned.

“That would be a better alternative. Just kill them all so that we don’t have to fear for someone else’s life or our own.” Liam argued. “Gerard, the guy who killed his own granddaughter then lied to his son about it, we caught him because he was arrested for the murder of some innocent teen. They found semen on her and it matched him, but because they found some poor sap that killed her, Gerard walked away like nothing happened. How do we even know that he didn’t kill her?”

“Liam, you aren’t planning to kill him, are you?” Theo asked slowly.

“I should just do it myself, shouldn’t I.” Liam smiled in a self-deprecating manner. The elevator opened and they stepped out. “Just build a bomb and kill them all. I even know how. My science teacher back in high school loved teaching us about everything else but the school’s curriculum.”

“Don’t kill them.” Theo said. He saw that he caught Liam by surprise.

“What?” Liam asked. Theo grabbed Liam’s arm and pulled him closer.

“Promise me that you won’t build a bomb and kill the cult.” Theo tried to put every ounce of seriousness into his tone and words. He wasn’t about to let Liam become a murderer.

“I won’t.” Liam said. “Seriously, Theo. I won’t build a bomb to use to kill the cult.”

“You better not.” Theo let him go and they both walked to the conference room. Theo went ahead and missed the small smile on Liam’s face.

Liam had something else in mind and his plan was already in motion.

*

Mason had briefed everyone on their part in the raid. He assigned tasks to each of their key players. Sadly, neither Liam, Alec nor Nolan would play a part in it.

“So, I can’t even come along to see if my daughter is fine?” Liam asked, as if the absurdity of the statement was hard to understand.

“Liam, we can’t have you running around getting in the way of everyone else just because you are worried about your daughter. You are still a civilian and I can’t let you do that.” Mason sighed. “The only person allowed to come is Theo, and only because he is a doctor. So, even then he’s only going to come with the other EMTs.”

“You are asking me to just sit at home while my daughter–” Liam was cut off as Taylor Swift’s _Shake It Off_ started playing. Liam pulled out his phone and answered the call. “What? I’ll be there soon, I’m a little busy now, so give me thirty minutes.”

“Taylor Swift? Really?” Theo asked after Liam dropped the call.

“It was set by Hayden. My mom used to call everyday so she would dance to the song as it played before we answered the phone.” Liam sighed, a sad smile on his face. The group kept quiet, not knowing if he was going to get angry over not being allowed to go or stay sad at the memories he made with his daughter. “Let me go. Some one is looking for me at the university.”

“So, you’ve given up on asking to come with?” Mason asked, curiosity winning over his instinct to avoid another argument with Liam. Everybody turned to look at the male who was standing by the now opened conference room door. Liam seemed to pause, as if thinking of a proper response and the team held their breath.

“A friend once told me, that when it came to Hayden, I did stupid things. So, I’m not sure if I won’t try and kill them when I see them.” Liam turned to face the group. “I won’t come along, _but_ you have to call me the minute you get her.”

“We can do that.” Mason agreed. Liam smiled and walked out of the room. It wasn’t like he _could_ be a part of the raid anyway. Not with the plans that he had in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapters will be out either Sunday or Monday. Or Saturday if I'm feeling nice. 😉


	19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy for the whole day so here's the finale earlier than I wanted.
> 
> Also my favourite chapter to date! Enjoy!
> 
> Warning: Mentions of suicide and murder.

Liam nervously fixed his suit and black leather gloves as he walked into Argent & Hunter Inc. He took a deep breath in and focused on his anger, something that he had never done since before Hayden was born. He was doing all of this for Hayden, anyway.

“Good morning, sir. How may we at Argent & Hunter help you?” The receptionist, a pretty brunette, asked as Liam walked towards where she sat by her desk.

“I would like to speak to Mr. Gerard Argent. I believe I have something that he might be interested in.” Liam smiled his best smile. The same smile he used in college to flirt with the bartenders and patrons. It had never failed him before, and it certainly didn’t fail him now.

“Do you have an appointment?” She asked clearly flustered. Liam leaned forward a bit and read her name tag, Tracy.

“Well, I don’t, Miss Tracy.” Liam put on a slightly pained expression. “But I was wondering if you could pass on a message for me. If he still doesn’t want to meet with me then it’s not your fault.”

“And what message might that be?” Tracy asked, clearly interested in keeping the conversation going.

“Just give him this paper. He’ll understand it.” Liam slipped said paper towards her. She took it and smiled.

“Please wait here while I go and give this to him.” She said, standing up. Another receptionist came out of nowhere and took her place as Liam went to sit down. Liam was quite impressed by the efficiency that the building was run with. It sort of reminded him of a movie with someone named Mr. Grey.

It didn’t take long for Tracy to return and escort Liam up to Gerard’s office. When they arrived, Liam was shown right in to where the man was sitting behind his large glass desk. The entire office was decorated quite minimally with blacks, golds, whites, and some transparent glass.

“Good morning Mr. Argent.” Liam said after Tracy had left them alone.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Gerard asked. Liam could see a hint of panic and anger in his eyes, but the man otherwise remained calm.

“To join you.” Liam said nonchalantly. He walked around the office, talking a look at a few ornaments that decorated the room.

“You mean blackmail me.” The man said.

“No.” Liam said with fake surprise in his voice. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Professor Liam Dunbar, work at Beacon Hills University as an Ancient History professor. When I first saw your… work, I was captivated and wanted to know more. So, I researched and use my contacts in the BHPD to find the information I needed.”

“But you didn’t decide to go to the police?” Gerard narrowed his eyes at Liam.

“It was all for my pleasure and enjoyment, but recently you kidnapped my ex’s daughter just as she was going to dump the kid on me.” Liam rolled his eyes for effect. “Then when I finally put all the pieces together, I knew what I was going to do. I want, no, _need_ to be able to give my daughter to the Vita et Mors Rarii Noxiorum. Sacrifice her for the sins that she committed and the trouble she caused me.”

Gerard didn’t seem as skeptical as before but clearly wasn’t completely convinced.

“When that damn child was born, she was always sick. I had to sell my Porsche just to afford her medical bills. It wasn’t a planned pregnancy, but the mother didn’t want to get rid of her. So out went my car, nearly lost my job and sleep and into rehab the mother went. At my expense, on top of that.” Liam continued. He paced the room in anger, running his hands through his hair. “So, when that whore called me telling me that the child was missing and there was a sigil on the car window, I knew it was my chance. _If_ you will have me, I would love to be one of the Rarii.”

“Membership requires you to commit a crime.” Gerard said slowly. Liam could see that he was trying to gauge his reaction. “You would normally need to bring a child but since yours was already taken, we’ll allow you to kill her at our next meeting. It’s in two days.”

“Do I need to prepare anything else? No, personal instruments or anything?” Liam asked, letting his excitement show.

“No, just yourself, unless you want to make it _special_. If you fail to kill her that day, we kill you.” The older man said as he leaned forward in his chair. Liam could feel his menacing aura from where he stood. It was the kind of aura that predators gave off. Natural and purely driven by instinct and hunger. It was a love of killing and the need to kill.

“Don’t worry, if I can get rid of both of them without implicating myself, then I will do it.” Liam genuinely smiled. Sickening relief and lust at what he was about to do filled his features. He could feel the death on the end of his fingertips, smell it in the air and taste it on his tongue. It tasted sweet.

Gerard took out a sticky note and wrote an address, date, and time on it.

“Then I will see you in two days. Eleven in the evening. Don’t be late.” The old man handed the paper to Liam and smiled a predatory grin.

“I won’t. Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Argent.” Liam said as he left the office.

*

Bribing a homeless man to drop off the note at the precinct was easier than Liam had expected.

***

Liam felt the nervous hum of energy flow through his veins. Everything was set. He switched on his speaker and started playing his workout music. For once in his life, Liam was glad for his building’s lack of CCTV cameras.

He picked up a duffle bag and carefully placed the canister inside, beside the box of candles that he had bought months ago for a class experiment. Everything about the bag and canister had nothing to do with Liam. He made sure he always wore gloves when he handled them and made sure that he was thoroughly clean before coming near it. Even the car he was going to be transporting it in was rented. Before closing the bag, Liam switched on the timer for when the police raid was meant to happen. Everything had to happen when he wanted it to happen.

When the bag was ready, he dressed himself in his suit and a new pair of leather gloves, not forgetting to spray some mango juice all over his hands. He had it specially made by a student in the science department at the university. The spray would aggravate the skin but not cause any other reactions. It was the perfect excuse to keep his gloves on.

Liam left his apartment building, careful not to be seen by any of the tenants. Living there for five plus years helped him learn their basic schedules. He put the bag on the seat next to him and drove to the destination that he had been given.

The mansion was indeed a mansion. It had giant wooden doors that fit perfectly with the brown brick walls of the structure. The entire structure seemed to carry a sense of grandeur and looked as if it came straight out of a movie. Liam was no doubt taken aback by its beauty.

“I thought you did your research.” Gerard said as he welcomed Liam into the house.

“Pictures didn’t do it justice. It’s well spent money if you know what I mean.” Liam smiled and shook the man’s hand.

“And that might be?” Gerard asked, looking in the direction of the bag Liam held in his right hand.

“The something _special_ you said I could bring.” Liam winked. The older male laughed and led Liam into the room that held all the cult members.

“Let me introduce you to everyone.” Gerard said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Can I put this in a corner?” Liam asked. When he received a nod, he placed it in a random corner and quickly went back to his host.

“This is Tamora Monroe, the reason I had the passion to start all of this.” Gerard said as he introduced him to a short black woman with voluminous curly hair.

“A pleasure to meet someone like yourself.” Liam said, a sexy grin on his face. He took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on to it.

“A flatterer I see.” She laughed, before taking note of his gloves. “Cautious or…”

“Illness.” Liam gave her a regretful smile and lifted up one corner of his glove, revealing the red and peeling skin underneath. Monroe grimaced and offered him a sympathetic look. “Does nothing to attract the ladies but the gloves have been found to have a certain… charm to them.”

“Come let me introduce you to the other ladies, and gentlemen.” Gerard added as an afterthought, still laughing. He dragged Liam away from Monroe and showed him off to other members, saying that he was the ‘entertainment’ for the night.

When it was time, Liam asked for directions to the bathroom and took his leave. He locked the door and pulled out a gas mask that he had gotten from one of the cult’s suppliers. People would do anything for money.

The gas took only five minutes to work and the release canister would need only three minutes to spread its contents around the room. When Liam heard nothing coming from outside the room, he exited slowly. He didn’t want to be caught with a gas mask on if it only managed to get half the room.

Just as his supplier had predicted, everyone had collapsed in and around the room. The gas that was used was a heavy sedative, mixed at such high doses that no adult would be immune. Liam had countered the drug by adding small doses of another chemical. This chemical would only show effects on children, especially in low quantities. And it would be completely untraceable.

Liam pulled out the box of candles and took his time placing them around the room. The candles were all connected by a single wick, as if it were a circuit. Liam placed the final candle next to Gerard and placed a timed lighter in his hand. He had paid no expense when it came to setting the entire thing up.

When the timer was set, Liam left the house, making sure to hold his breath and take off his mask before the guards saw him. He pretended to be on the phone with somebody, going on about how he would be at the hospital in less than five minutes. Liam was proud of all the ‘acting’ classes Hayden had made him go through when she was going through her dress up phase. His voice had even gone hoarse after yelling ‘This is Sparta’ all through the weekend.

The thought of his daughter almost made him turn around, but he knew that he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to see her again. He gripped the steering wheel as he forced himself to drive out of the mansion’s gate.

The drive back to his apartment was tense as Liam tried to think about seeing Hayden again. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if his plan for revenge killed his daughter. When Liam arrived, he threw off his suit and gloves, injected himself with an EpiPen and grabbed his boxing gloves. He needed to beat up someone or something was grateful for Kira and Malia’s donation to his personal gym.

Liam went at the punching bag as if it were Gerard’s face. He kicked and punched as if it were any of the smug bastards that had been at the Argent mansion. The fact that he had been forced to play nice with child murderers had made Liam sick to his stomach. The thought of them thinking that he was going to provide ‘entertainment’ fueled his anger even more and Liam took it out on the punching bag.

The sharp ring of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off pulled him out of his anger fueled reverie. It was Mason.

“Yes?” Liam panted into the phone. Liam didn’t even wait for him to answer before he was out of the house with his keys in his hand. He didn’t make the mistake of grabbing the wrong car keys though.

“We have a very excited little girl waiting here for you.” Mason said, a smile heard in his tone.

The usually ten-minute drive only took Liam three as he _legally_ sped to the precinct. Mason and Theo were waiting outside with one of the three ambulances that were parked outside. Liam ignored everything else and ran for the little girl sitting on the gurney next to his friends. He already knew that Corey was busy with the arrests of the accomplices, so he wasn’t surprised to not see him there.

“Hayden!” He called when he was close enough.

“Daddy!” Hayden jumped out of the back of the vehicle and met him halfway. Liam scoped her up into his arms and held her tightly.

“I missed you so much. I was so scared that something had happened to you.” Liam said into her hair.

“I’m okay. I was very scared, but you always told me to be brave.” She said back, making him hug her even tighter. Theo and Mason walked towards them.

“Liam, you’ll have to bring her back later on for an interview.” Mason told him gently. “Just so we know what exactly happened.”

“It’s fine, as long as she stays in my arms.” Liam said happily. Mason clapped him on the shoulder and went to go and talk to the other victims and their families.

“Liam?” Theo’s voice got his attention. It was cold and measured.

“Yes?”

“The fire. Was it you?”

“What fire?” Liam asked, confusion clear in his tone and facial expression. He looked around and noticed the some of the police officers had soot on their faces. Liam looked at Hayden and smelt her clothes and hair. She smelt of smoke. “What happened? Did they try to set the kids on fire?”

“You’ll have to ask Mason for the–” Theo started to say and that was enough to get Liam walking in the direction of his friend.

“Mason, what happened? What fire is Theo talking about?” Liam asked when Mason turned towards him.

“You don’t have to worry about anything Liam. Theo already checked, Hayden’s lungs are clean, he didn’t inhale any smoke. Even her kidneys are fine. The fire was a mass murder-suicide attempt done by the cult.” Mason said as he pulled a face, clearly remembering the past case. “We got there before the fire reached the room that the children were in.”

“An attempted murder-suicide.” Liam repeated.

“Well only the suicide part worked. They were all dead when we got there.” Mason grimaced, probably thinking about the smell of burning flesh.

“That’s cowardly.” Liam said, hugging Hayden even tighter. The little girl had fallen asleep in his arms, most likely due to the gas. Liam felt relieved knowing that it wasn’t toxic.

“They had released a sleeping gas into the air before lighting the fire, most probably to prevent themselves from experiencing any pain. The rate that the fire was spreading meant that the children would have been awake by the time the fire reached them. They would have been burnt alive while feeling the pain.” Mason said, looking at the child in his friend’s arms. Liam stroked Hayden’s hair. If his plan had gone wrong even a little bit, his daughter would have been dead or badly injured.

“They are sick and twisted human beings.” He muttered, half referring to himself. Mason nodded his head solemnly. “Let me get Hayden to bed. I still have to call her mother and my parents and tell them the good news. Even though they probably already saw it on the news, they’ll want to hear it from me.”

Mason gently placed a hand on the hand that was stroking Hayden hair before he pulled away. Liam turned and walked away, ready to get home with his daughter.

“Liam.” Theo called him again – when nobody was within earshot.

“As someone once told me,” Liam said as he turned around, “ _I did what I had to do_.”


	20. Beacon Hills Gazette

## **Beacon Hills Gazette**

* * *

* * *

* * *

# Case Closed In Blazing Fury

**_[Photograph by Jason Future]_ **

Thursday’s fire shook the entire city of Beacon Hills after it was discovered that the fire was set by the culprits of the recent serial child murders in an act of suicide. It was revealed that the culprits called themselves Vita et Mors Rarii Noxiorum, meaning Givers of Life and Death.

The BHPD had been able to arrive on time and save the remaining children’s lives who were in another part of the mansion. All culprits died in the fire as it originated in the room that they had all convened in. People speculate that the mass suicide was decided upon after news had been released that the names of the culprits had been found.

A tip had been given to the police about the mass suicide and the Task Force has been commended for their quick reactions. The families of the found children have expressed their gratitude at getting their children back. Many families believe that they did not get the justice the deserved because of the ending of the case. 

| 

  
  
  
  
  


| 

Mason Hewitt, lead detective of the case had this to say: _“We wish it didn’t end this way. [They] should have faced the justice their crimes deserved, not their own justice. But at the end of the day, we are glad that we were able to save all the children before the cult took them with.”_

  
By Chika Lohaine  
  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're finally done! Catch me on tumblr under haruthecriminologist.tumblr.com


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